Iris Petals: An Inuzuka Kiba Romance
by InuLoveKawaii13
Summary: Kiba, Akamaru, and his team are returning from a mission when Akamaru suddenly turns around to help a girl who is fighting. What happens when she decides to stay in Konoha? And what is she hiding; how many secrets does she hold?
1. Chapter 1

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of Naruto. It all belongs to the mangaka. I only own the characters I made

Chapter One

"Eh? Akamaru, where are you going? The village isn't in this direction!" Kiba was atop Akamaru, heading back to the village. Shino and Hinata stared at him with mild curiosity and decided to follow as Kiba went flying past them in the opposite direction. The next thing Kiba knew, he was in a clearing, watching a girl and her ninja dog fight five men who also used ninja dogs, all of which were down. The girl was avoiding the center of the meadow. Kiba jumped slightly as Hinata spoke softly behind him.

"There is an ominous energy source coming from the center of the meadow. I wouldn't go near if I were you Kiba." She said, Kiba barely taking note of the veins around her eyes, signifying her using the byakugan.

"It sucks in thought-processing organisms. If I had to make a guess, I would say that one of the two parties in front of us is trying to get the opposite party to trigger the reaction of that energy source."

"Shiinume-san!" a voice called from the shadows. Everyone looked across the meadow and the girl, who Kiba assumed was Shiinume-san, looked betrayed. Kiba saw her mouth open to speak just as he heard a dog yelp, her ninja dog disappearing from sight. Kiba sprung from where he stood and scooped her away from the center of the meadow just as she reached for her dog. "Give it up, Shiinume-san. After all, your clan is dying out. You might as well just give into your destiny." A shuriken flew towards them and Kiba countered it with a kunai, forcing him to join the fight. _What is with all this destiny talk? I mean, no one's path is completely planned out. It depends on choices!_

"How could you do this to me? What do you plan to do to Doodle?" Shiinume-san shouted, almost screamed across the meadow. _She named her ninja dog Doddle? When did she get the dog? When she was three?_ Kiba threw the girl behind him for Akamaru to protect.

"Aka, guard her!" Kiba said as he threw shuriken at one of the men, the easiest target of the two, as he was the one with the least amount of energy left in him. Kiba could just sense it. The man countered just in time. The other man near the man charged, and Kiba ducked, kicking the man in the knee, knocking it out of place in the process. He continued on in a full circle to misplace the knee of the third attacker, who showed up, clearly at the wrong time.

The three with misplaced knees slowly stood, favoring the uninjured side of their lower half, bringing the advantage to Kiba. As he used hand to hand combat against the three, who moved very little, he watched the other two, who were studying him closely. _I am going to have to use Akamaru with them, just so I can shock them. As well as with that other girl, too. When is she going to join in on the fight? _He glanced at Hinata and Shino. He would have to get their assistance, too, if the girl proved more dangerous. He decided to start mimicking his moves, easily taking down his opponent and moving onto the next, rendering him unconscious, and badly injuring the third.

He paused, watching the other two carefully. He smirked. _Who will attack first?_ The two men got into a battle stance, clearly ready to put their plan into action. Only one attacked, however, which made Kiba worry. When he looked over at the other man, he saw him making seals. _Shoot! This one is a distraction so that the other could use a jutsu! _Kiba quickly picked out a shuriken and threw it at the one making seals as he defended himself from the man using hand to hand combat with him. He glanced at the man making seals and saw him clutching his shoulder, bleeding slightly from a kunai embedded there. _I could have sworn I threw a shuriken…and I wouldn't have hit him thanks to this freak show in front of me._ He glanced over at Shiinume-san and saw her standing next to Akamaru, swinging a kunai around her left index finger. She glanced at Kiba and threw the kunai at the other man again. _She is kind of cute. If it weren't for the fact that she is a possible enemy, I would totally ask her out._

"She is cute, isn't she?" the man in front of Kiba asked as he focused yet again on his opponent, slicing his arm. Shiinume-san's kunai missed the man by a mere millimeter, giving Kiba the opportunity to injure him as well as gain the upper hand.

"Yeah, so what?" he replied.

The man snarled, then said, "You bastard! You really do not know how to be distracted, do you?"

"But you did distract me."

"Then show it, idiot!" Kiba laughed internally. _Now, why would I do that?_

Shiinume-san, however, watched him. _Why is he doing this for me? I know he didn't even know we were here fighting earlier. I have a feeling that if it weren't for his dog, I would have been done for a long time ago. _She took out another kunai, intending to fight Keshino Miyuki, the girl who laughed at her, telling her to give up. _She will pay for betraying me! I can't believe that I thought she was a friend – my best friend, at that!_ She then jumped and the dog, who the boy fighting the two men called Aka earlier, followed her, clearly following his master's orders to the T.

"You should help your master, not me," she said to the dog, it clearly ignoring her. It followed her as she raced across the meadow at Keshino. _I will not give her so much as an honorific suffix, for she betrayed my clan and her own best friend!_

Aka followed her and aided her, ignoring her 'shoos'.

"Woof!" he growled, sensing people in the trees. The boy shouted to his friends, who were a few steps ahead of him.

"Hinata! Shino! Akamaru says people are hiding in the trees."

"On it, Kiba-kun!" the girl said. _So his name is Kiba, huh? Why does that sound familiar…?_

"There are more than just a few. The question is whether or not they are friend or foe," the other boy said. _His name is Shino, right? Yeah, that Kiba person said Shino and Hinata, and Hinata is a girls' name._

"Look, I have no idea who you are, but why are you helping me?" Shiinume-san asked just as Kiba managed to take down his current opponent. _Only one guy left…_

"You looked like you needed help. Plus, Akamaru practically dragged me here. I figured there had to be a reason behind that."

"Your name is Kiba, if what I heard earlier is correct. When this is over, I am going to demand more of an explanation from you."

"You would be stupid if you didn't." Kiba smirked, attacking the last man standing, the one with Shiinume-san's kunai embedded in his left shoulder. It didn't take long to take him down. _She sounds bossy. I just hope she isn't an enemy, though I doubt she is. Akamaru wouldn't want to help an enemy. A_fter several attempts, Kiba finally managed to injure the man in front of him. Kiba didn't know if he killed him or not, but he really didn't care. He brought his attention to the people in the trees, who decided to make their debut.

"Shoot," he heard Shiinume-san say, who came next to him holding kunai and eyeing the girl, the one who seemed to have betrayed her.

"You three handle the men in the trees, I will handle _her_," Shiinume-san barked. Hinata and Shino looked to Kiba, who was looking at the girl in disbelief. "Do not look at me like that. You don't even know my skill level. Heh, I am not even a ninja. I can deal with her, however." _That is a total lie, _Hinata thought. _Her chakra system shows that she has and continues to mold chakra. She is skilled. Was – no, is – she a Jonin? She has the ability to be one if she isn't…_ Hinata continued to study Shiinume-san as Shino studied the girl Shiinume-san said she would handle. The girl was obviously skilled, but Shino felt that Shiinume-san has the upper hand of the two just by how the girl seemed to want to drain Shiinume-san of all her energy before launching her attack.

Kiba looked at Hinata and Shino and saw them studying Shiinume-san and the girl across the meadow. Kiba didn't know what they were thinking, but had a feeling that Shiinume-san knew what she was talking about.

"I never said you were in charge, though," he muttered as he took his stance against the people sliding into the meadow slowly.

"Quit complaining. At least I know who is and isn't an enemy. If there are any dogs among them, do not hurt them. They are brainwashed and I will deal with them. Have your dog drag the dogs I dealt with earlier off to the side. I do not want them to be caught up in this – especially the black, grey, and white one."

"Is he special to you or something?" Kiba signaled Akamaru to do as Shiinume-san said, and he started to drag the dogs over to the trees.

"My brother's dog," she said quietly, "was that dog's father. She is Doodle sister."

"Doodle is your dog, I assume," Kiba stated. It sounded more like a question than anything else. Shiinume-san nodded. Kiba gave a blank face before smirking as an opponent appeared in front of him, as well as one in front of Shiinume-san.

"Ayame, pay attention, or else you may actually loose."

"Shiinume Ayame?" Kiba questioned as Shiinume Ayame scowled. She obviously did not want Kiba's group to know her name before she could tell them. "Pretty name," he said, narrowly avoiding a shuriken. Akamaru jumped over to Kiba and took to his back, biting anyone trying to be sneaky and cowardly.

"Do you really think I would lose to a low level opponent such as you, Kei? You are all just decoys anyway, trying to drain me of my energy just so she can win. Or at least have a chance at it," she smirked, laughing as she punched at the girl in front of her, who barely dodged the attacks. "Just because you take away the strong point does not mean the rest is still weak." Kiba thought about what Ayame said and agreed. _Naruto is an example of that. I mean, he defeated Pain, who thought that Naruto was weak without his sage chakra and frog friends helping him, or anyone else for that matter. I wonder how she can be so wise; she is barely my age, from what I can tell. _Kiba transformed Akamaru into a clone of himself with his Beast Human Clone Jutsu.

"Hah?" he heard as the man fighting Akamaru saw the sudden change in his form.

"Heh, us Inuzukas really know how to throw people of just at the right time." Kiba's muttering caught the attention of Ayame, who heard '…zuka'.

"What did you just say?" she asked. Kiba looked at her innocently as people came at him more cautiously.

"We know how to throw people of just at the right time…?" he trailed of questioningly. Ayame gave a priceless expression, one that showed that she was younger than she seemed. She blinked a few times and her face gave an expression often worn by people who are dealing with stupidity.

"Never mind…" she said, deciding to get the answer later. The girl she dealt with was kind enough to wait for her to finish her small conversation before launching another attack. She was soon knocked out. _I guess she doesn't like to kill in cold blood,_ Kiba thought as he continued to fight the people charging at him. He wasn't exactly aiming to kill, but he did end up killing a couple of his opponents.

Finally, Ayame was free of an opponent and could face Keshino without any interference. Before she started her battle with Keshino, she felt immense chakras rising from her, forming around her. Ayame felt the forbidden jutsu before she recognized what it was. When she did, it was too late. She could only watch in suspenseful horror, her face a mask of stoic defeat, as she knew what the final outcome would end up like. Kiba and Akamaru backed up and the other people fighting them ran to the trees to stay away. Kiba looked to Ayame and noticed a look on her face he didn't necessarily care for. She planned to push herself to do this no matter the cost. He wanted to tell her no, but he could feel that she was going to ignore him and this was her way of vengeance.

_Vengeance never solves. _Hinata and Shino backed up to Kiba, both with horrified expressions on their faces. Kiba stared at Shino for a second. _Shino never shows emotion! This must be big if even he is scared out of his emotionless state…_ Kiba felt Hinata and Shino nudging him to back away and he did, not needing to be warned a second time. Both women in front of them looked formidable, Ayame moving in a flurry with hand seals and the other girl holding just one seal with chakra flying around her. Akamaru whined as Kiba continued to wish that the feeling in his gut would disappear.

Ayame knew the jutsu she built up for would do nothing against the jutsu Keshino Miyuki started. It was too late to stop her now. Both jutsus finished, Keshino attacked while Ayame jumped, her leap making her unable to be seen against the sun, making her a shadow. When she landed, she stood on all fours, using her kekkei genkai.

"Aw, little Ayame can't play fair. Am I so scary that I get the pleasure of seeing your kekkei genkai? I feel privileged. Not only do I get to see everything, but I also get to beat you when you have the most power." Keshino threw another attack and Ayame bounced against a tree, leaping behind Keshino. _I can only hold her off till her jutsu runs out of fuel. Avoiding the attacks is the key. _

Keshino smirked, her now cat slit eyes looking at Kiba and Akamaru. Ayame froze. _No…_ Ayame barked, trying to give Keshino a useless tirade on fair play. "I wonder what little Shiinume Ayame would do if her saviors suffered. Or maybe if it is just one of them?" Ayame felt her blood pumping as she barked, jumping in front of Kiba and Akamaru just as Keshino released her chakra, knocking her out of the kekkei genkai and rendering her near unconscious. Before she blacked out, she heard barking and trees moving around her, people calling out to Kiba and his group, referring to chakra disturbances. _Oh, it hurts so, so much! I hope Kiba is okay! I wonder what his full name is. I know he mentioned it earlier. I should have paid more attention to his rambling. Stupid! Stupid!_

"Ki…" she grimaced before blacking out.


	2. Chapter 2

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of Naruto. It all belongs to the mangaka. I only own the characters I made

Chapter Two

"Kiba! Akamaru!" Kiba heard his sister shout, rushing to sit next to him. He caught Ayame in his arms as she slammed against him, confused and speechless as he slid down the tree he leaned against to the ground. _What kind of kekkei genkai was that?_

"Kiba!" Sakura shouted. He looked past his sister, who paused to study the girl before turning to Akamaru, who was dog once again. "What happened? Who is she? Why are there unconscious dogs all around us?"

"Sakura, what are you doing here?" Hinata spoke, being the first to break out of her shock. "Hey, where did she go? The girl who attacked Shiinume-san…" Kiba's head jerked up and smelled the air along with Akamaru.

"Good question. Where did she go? She was here a minute ago." Hana moved onto the unconscious dogs after assuring herself that Akamaru was fine.

"Do not go near the center of the meadow, or you will be transported somewhere. We don't know where. Akamaru dragged us here and we saw a group of five people attacking this girl here, while a sixth sat on the sidelines. Her dog was kidnapped and Kiba stepped in so that she wouldn't do something stupid. We were then forced to enter the chaos. Something happened and the opponent suddenly got a lot of chakra and cat-like eyes and Shiinume-san, that girl next to Kiba, suddenly jumped up and came back down as a dog. I think it was some kind of Transformation Jutsu. But then the girl threatened to attack Kiba and Shiinume-san jumped in the way, taking the full blast of the jutsu."

"Did you just say Shiinume, Shino?" Hana interrupted, pausing in her examination of the dog in front of her.

"What is so special about Ayame-chan's family name?" Kiba blurted out.

"If she is of the Shiinume family, that was her kekkei genkai, not a jutsu. The Shiinume have the ability to transform completely or partially into the canine species. Each person is unique. I heard the youngest daughter of their clan leader is the most powerful yet. I wouldn't mind meeting her. It would practically be an honor!"

"We need to get her to the leaf hospital. Kiba and Akamaru will come with me and you two will stay with Hana-san and her group and help wherever you can. Kiba, carry Shiinume-san," Sakura ordered.

Kiba blinked a few times He knew from watching Naruto that only a few would be stupid enough to argue with Sakura. With Sakura, the bite was definitely worse that the bark. _How did she turn into a dog like that? I wonder what caused her to fall out of her jutsu. Was the jutsu that other girl used really that powerful?_ He picked her up bridal style, and put her on Akamaru, laying her on her stomach and wrapping her arms around Akamaru's neck. After he was positive she wouldn't be able to fall off, they took off, Sakura setting the pace. Kiba ran next to Akamaru, making sure Ayame wouldn't fall off. They reached Konoha by dinnertime, heading to the Leaf Hospital first.

"Hello, Sakura-chan. The room next to Moshe-san is available." The nurse smiled at Kiba, who looked around nervously. _I wonder where mom is._

"Actually, I was thinking more along the lines of intensive care."

Kiba watched as Sakura wiggled different rooms out of the nurse on duty, his mind straying to Akamaru and his dinner. _Maybe I should ask mom for some money to buy kibble, beef, and eggs. I can offer to make dinner tonight, since everyone else is always busy. Hana can't cook for the life of her to begin with, so it is probably best if she doesn't go near the stove…_ Kiba came back to reality when Akamaru whined, finding an angry Sakura in front of him. He gulped and backed up a step.

"Sa-Sakura-chan…" he stuttered not liking the anger surrounding her.

"Follow me." Kiba could hear the anger in her voice more so than normal. He glanced at Ayame and felt sorry for her. From what he could make out of the conversation she engaged in with that one girl, she had no one left in her hometown and was thus labeled a missing-nin in her village.

"Sakura, what are you doing here? You are supposed to be…" Tsunade looked past Sakura and to Kiba and Akamaru, who was still acting as a taxi for Ayame. "Who is she?"

"Shiinume Ayame," Kiba answered.

"Do you mean Shiinume Ayame as in the Shiinume clan of the Hidden Animal? What is she doing in the Hidden Leaf?"

"Un…" They all turned to look at Ayame, who looked slightly unstable.

"I was taking her to a room," Sakura said, clearly saying she wished to continue on. Tsunade exchanged a few more words with her and Sakura practically dragged Kiba and Akamaru down the hall to a room, which contained a single bed and a lot of machines Kiba didn't think he wanted to know about.

"Lift her onto the bed then you can go if you want. I have a feeling that it will be a while before she wakes up." Kiba did as Sakura told him and left, a few nurses coming into the room followed by Tsunade, who seemed to be bored and curious at the same time. Kiba climbed down the stairs, Akamaru trailing behind, and decided to find his mom to ask for the money to buy food for dinner.

Ayame groaned silently as she tried to move her body. _That jutsu is so much harder to get past than I thought it was. How the hell did she manage to get enough chakra to even jumpstart that jutsu?_ She blinked a few times, her eye lids heavy. She heard voices and a door open. _Where am I? I thought I was in the forest…_ Everything flooded back to her and she remembered Kiba and Akamaru, and a girl who spoke of chakra disturbances and blacking out. Her eyes fluttered, though no one really paid much attention to her. They knew she recovered from the physical injury. She smelled Kiba almost immediately.

Kiba and Hana entered the room, Hana mostly here to get a peak at the girl Akamaru dragged Kiba to see every day.

"She is pretty," she commented, making everyone look to her. "Shiinume Ayame, I mean. No wonder Akamaru won't listen to Kiba anymore…" Hana chuckled as Kiba looked like he wanted to disappear and fall through the earth. Akamaru practically dragged Kiba here every day just so he could see the girl he carried on his back. Tsunade found Kiba's reluctance quite the joke.

"Give him a break, Hana. He's had quite the week, dealing with Akamaru's forced visits."

_Kiba's been here all week? _She sniffed and noticed that Kiba and Akamaru's scent was stronger than even the blonde and pink haired females in the room, particularly where the bed was. It smelled distinctly of dog and master. Ayame felt her stomach flip and blushed, deciding to sit up. In doing so, she attracted the attention of Akamaru, and in turn attracting Kiba's. Kiba came over to help her up, everyone seeming to ignore them. Ayame felt her cheeks go warm as Kiba's hand held her waist and back up, reaching around to move the pillows up. She put her head on Kiba's chest. _He is so warm…_

Kiba looked down at her, pausing as he attempted to fix the pillows. He felt Ayame lay on his chest and his stomach did a flip. _Why did Hana have to tease me? The only reason I fought against Akamaru is because he dragged me out of bed at three in the morning… No one likes to be woken up at that time…_ He went back to fixing them when she was steady, releasing his grip on her waist. Ayame's gaze from the others lessened only briefly as he did. Ayame looked at the woman Kiba came in with. She was pretty, with her brown shoulder length hair tied up in a ponytail. Her cheeks had red fangs marks on them, much like Kiba.

Suddenly, Ayame worried about her hair. _Oh gosh! I must have the worst case of bed head ever! _Her panic caused her to take her head off of Kiba's chest, said person having just finished trying to fix the pillows with the very real distraction in his arms. Kiba looked at her and noticed that her hair was only a slight mess. _I guess some girls are lucky like that. Sis looks terrifying in the morning. So does mom… _Kiba tried to push her back on the pillows, but Ayame resisted, patting her head as she tried to stop Kiba from pushing her into a relaxed position.

"She can stay at our place. Since we have her ninja dogs at our house, it would probably be better for her state of mind. Maybe she knows…" Kiba and Ayame froze, while Akamaru barked with joy. Everyone looked over and jumped in shock at what they saw. All except Sakura, who was not all surprised to see Ayame sitting up, though she raised her eyebrows at Kiba, who had frozen with her upper forearms being blocked by his left arm and used his other hand on her shoulder, trying to make her relax against the pillows he pushed up for her. "She can take Kiba's room."

"What?" They both said, making everyone laugh.

"That is my room! Where am I supposed to sleep?" Kiba asked a very logical question in Ayame's opinion. Sleeping outside was not a fun option.

"Why do I have to stay in his room?" Ayame questioned, wondering why it just had to be Kiba's room. Her stomach fluttered at the thought of being surrounded by Kiba's sent all day, as she was sure she would be spending a lot of time in his room. Even to her, the objection sounded half-hearted. _Why am I not objecting whole-heartedly?_ Ayame noticed the pink haired girl – not much older than Kiba – raise an eyebrow, probably hearing the half-hearted objection in her voice. None of the others noticed.

"Besides, mom gets to decide." Kiba seemed dead certain that his mom would help him. Ayame suddenly felt dread come on. _What is this? I am supposed to want to not sleep in his room! _

"You would end up on the floor," Hana said, and Kiba's jaw dropped. _I get the floor? No fair!_ He looked wearily at Akamaru, who innocently wagged his tail. Akamaru's been known to kick people in the middle of the night, namely Kiba. Kiba groaned almost silently. _I am so going to be sore when I wake up…_

"Oh! I forgot! I need to get food!" Kiba bolted from the room.

"Mom is on a mission, remember? And I can cook you know!" Kiba poked his head in the room.

"Sorry if I do not want to end up here tonight," he apologized sarcastically, taking off before his sister could register what he said.

"Kiba can cook?" Ayame asked, suddenly curious. It was the first thing that came to mind from that exchange.

"Yep, he can also mend clothes, clean well, and make a good househusband for any willing kunoichi," Hana mused, almost sounding like an auctioneer trying to sell off a product. Ayame blinked a few times. "Oh! Can you possibly identify the dogs in your clan? I don't know where the owners are, but I was hoping you could help me out."

"Yeah, I know all of the dogs. They all want to kill me still, probably, though." Ayame looked away as she received looks of curiosity.

"Hey, sis, do you have any money…" Kiba stopped mid-sentence, noticing the atmosphere in the room and blinked. "What did we miss?"

Akamaru poked his head through the doorway, whining in agreement to Kiba's question. Ayame smirked. She could read the whine clearly. _'Yeah, what did we miss?' That is so funny. Those two are really alike. _She began to laugh, hard and even harder and everyone looked at her as if she lost her mind.

"What is so funny?" the pink haired girl asked.

"Nothing," Ayame managed to stutter. She pushed down the laughter, if only barely.

"Then why are you laughing?" Kiba asked. Ayame looked at Akamaru again and mirth came spilling out again, making her stomach ache.

"Stop it!" she practically shouted and Tsunade peered at her and back at Kiba and Akamaru.

"It is one of you two," she stated as Ayame finally calmed down. She refused to look over at the door, knowing she would end up laughing at Akamaru's unknown antic.

"When do you think Shiinume-san will be able to make come to our house?" Hana asked as Kiba groaned. _I guess that particular agreement hasn't changed._

"Today, since she can sit up by herself. She will have to relax and not take on too much, though, due to the impact of the injury," Tsunade said, and with that, everyone left, leaving Kiba and Akamaru at the door.

"Did she mean now?" Ayame asked. Sakura poked her head in.

"Yeah, she means now," she said. "You should ask Kiba to show you around the village. You will be here for more time than you might expect to be." She glanced at Kiba and left. Kiba flushed, going over to the bed and helping Ayame up.

"Do you want to show me around the village?" she asked, knowing Kiba would not be able to refuse. He let out a sigh.

"Sure," he mumbled. "Where do you want to go first?" he asked, Akamaru barking happily at the thought of an early walk.

"How about where you two frequent?" she suggested. Akamaru's tail wagged even faster. Kiba looked at the particularly excited dog. _Not hard to please him, now is it?_

"Are you sure? There are a lot of places we like to go." Kiba smirked as her smile became forced.

"Yeah," she hesitated. "It would be good to know where to find you in case your mom or sister call on you." _Or when I decide I want to bug you._ She smiled as he turned to led her out of the hospital, forgetting completely about the money for dinner.


	3. Chapter 3

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of Naruto. It all belongs to the mangaka. I only own the characters I made.

Chapter Three

Ayame never thought it would be so much fun to annoy Kiba the way she did that day. Not only did Kiba almost fall asleep on the table during dinner, which he was basically forced to make in spite of his sister's earlier grumbling, but he also didn't have the energy to say no to letting her drag him around the next day. She wanted to revisit some of the stores, especially the flower shop. _Maybe they have irises there. I bet they do. It is a flower shop after all._

"Kiba-kun?" Ayame asked tentatively, knowing he wasn't the happiest camper at the moment.

"Un…" he groaned, more in protest than pain, though his feet hurt as though they were incased in an iron maiden specifically made for each individual foot. _I am so tired right now…If I had the energy, I would totally kill Sakura right now._ Ayame hesitated a moment before speaking.

"Where is your room?" she asked, blushing madly as she thought of how this could be interpreted. Kiba groaned again and stood up, wavering slightly like a drunken man, only he was drunk on fatigue, not spirits. He slowly walked toward the hall.

_He looks like he could faint at any moment…_ Kiba stumbled slightly on an uneven floorboard, causing Ayame to gasp slightly. She rushed over to him, grabbing his arm. She peered into his face and blinked. _Is he sleep-walking?_ Ayame blinked a few more times before Kiba walked forward again. Hana peered out of her room to look at Kiba. Akamaru whined slightly in the hall, expressing the same concerns for Kiba as Ayame was.

"Wow, you really wore him out. I haven't seen him this beat since mom took him out for her run of insane defeats. He was practically dead for days after that. Akamaru was, too, now that I think about it." Ayame felt guilty all of a sudden. "I wouldn't be shocked if he sleeps till noon tomorrow. Then again, he wakes up pretty early," Hana said distantly, talking more to herself than to Ayame now.

_I am just going to walk on by…_ Akamaru looked at Hana wearily, as if he didn't know what to make of the craziness going on around him. First his owner is basically comatose and then his 'aunt' starts talking to herself. _I feel for you, Akamaru. I would really hate to know what Kiba's mom is like…_ Ayame started after Kiba, knowing she would end up lost if she didn't follow. Kiba turned, opened a door, and walked in, collapsing on the bed. _Did he forget that he is getting the floor?_ A look of concern covered Ayame's face as she tried to figure out a way to get around Kiba, who literally took the entire bed, a feat in itself, seeing as the bed was fairly big, though low, probably to accommodate Akamaru as well.

Akamaru whined and Ayame looked to see him scratching at the closet door. She opened it and saw a futon and pillow on a shelf, as well as a dog bed on the floor of the closet. She dragged these two out, setting the dog bed up close to the bed, angling the futon so it made a ninety-degree angle with the bed, next to the wall. Getting on her knees, she fluffed the pillow and stripped off her shorts, slipping under the covers brushing her lavender and blue hair to the side as she put her head down and tried to get comfortable. _Ugh, so stuffy! If I didn't want to freak Kiba out in the morning, I would take off the shirt as well. But I don't know when his mom will even be home. Grrr…_

She continued to grumble in her head, almost oblivious to an unnaturally shaped pressure dug into her back. She turned and found herself face to paw with Akamaru's stocky thigh. She blinked a few times before she jumped out of the way of the paw coming straight at her nose. She rolled and landed next to Kiba's weapons pouch. She took out a kunai, unsure of what to expect of Akamaru. Akamaru, oblivious to his physical maneuvering, gave a sleepy yawn and rolled over, back onto his bed. He whimpered lightly in his dream, giving a soft doggy smile. _Do I want to know what he is dreaming about?_ Ayame went back over to her bed and slipped off the over-shirt, keeping her thin tank on, and slid under the covers again, kunai next to the wall.

"Ow!" she gritted through her teeth, trying to keep her voice down. Akamaru kicked her full blast in the stomach and it did _not_ feel good. "You little – ouch!" Akamaru slammed his tail in her face. Ayame felt her face go red with anger as she wished she knew why Akamaru was beating her up. Another kick in the stomach prompted her to stand up. His tail whacked her ankle and Ayame had to force herself not to punch the dog to the Hidden Village of the Animal and back. She quickly crawled onto the bed before Akamaru's tail decided to send her back to the Leaf Hospital and noticed Kiba was no longer hogging the whole bed, but was now hugging his pillow, curled like a dog. She gave a small smile and curled up next to his back and drew in a deep breath. Unbeknownst to her, she fell asleep in an instant.

"INUZUKA HANA!" Tsume screamed through the house. Her screaming jerked Kiba awake. He blinked sleepily a few times, completely oblivious to the girl resting her head on his chest. He stretched his arms, struggling to move the left. He looked to see if Akamaru snuck onto his bed and instead found a nest of soft lavender-blue hair. _It's so pretty..._ Kiba froze. _Wait… Why is their soft lavender-blue hair next to me?_ Kiba bolted up and left the bed, waking the figure next to him, who, he realized, was wearing a mere thin spaghetti strap over a bra and underwear.

Akamaru came over to Kiba and gave an affectionate lick on the face. Kiba looked over to the wall and found a futon on the floor, remembering slightly about someone sleeping in his room. He froze again. _Fudge. I was supposed to sleep on the floor last night! _

"Kiba-kun?" the girl said, sounding groggy and sleepy. _Shi… Oh, gosh, I think her name is Shiinume… It is way too early to think._ Kiba yawned as his mom burst into the room. The girl Kiba labeled Shiinume looked up, startled. She pulled her knees to her chest, seeming to be aware of what she was dressed in. Kiba glanced at his mom's face and knew in an instant that she would NOT be letting him out of the house and would attempt to kick Shiinume out.

"Who are you?" A wild haired woman entered the room. Out of fear, Ayame brought her knees to her chest earlier, now she wished she could hide. _This woman is terrifying._

"Mom, calm down. Her name is Shiinume Ayame. She was ostracized from her village, the Hidden Village of the Animal. I told Tsunade she could stay with us. She was supposed to sleep on Kiba's bed last night. Kiba slept on the floor." Kiba looked at the door in his room, thinking he ought to let Akamaru out to go to the bathroom. Ayame didn't need a translator to know Kiba did not want to breach the anger of his mom. Ayame felt that she didn't either.

"Freeze." Kiba froze at one command from his mom; he stood up just moment before and was merely two footsteps from the door. "You were not on the floor when I walked in here. Why were you in the same bed with a girl?" Kiba didn't respond. _Poor Kiba…_

"Um… That may be my fault…" Ayame stuttered. Everyone turned to look at her, Kiba included. _So she is going to admit that she dragged me around town with more energy than Naruto with one million pounds of sugar?_ Inuzuka Tsume blinked, clearly confused. _See mom? I am not a bad boy. I wouldn't touch her. Trust me, I fear for my life more than I want to kiss her…_ Kiba swallowed as he waited for Ayame-chan to talk.

"How is it your fault?" his mom said, losing her patience. _Mom… You're scaring her…_

"U-um… Well, I sort of…I kind of…" Ayame lost confidence. "Kiba gave me a tour of the Hidden Leaf yesterday and I dragged him everywhere and he was so tired when he got home that he practically collapsed and forgot that I was supposed to sleep on the bed and so I took out the futon and dog bed. Then Akamaru kept on kicking me and kicking me and I got so sick of it that I crawled on the bed and snuggled up to Kiba because he was so comfortable." Kiba blinked before he made sense of the gush of words that seemed to flow from Ayame-chan's mouth.

Tsume tried to connect the words that Ayame spoke. They were so rushed that she was having a difficult time trying to string them along correctly. Try as she might, she just couldn't get everything in the right order, though she did catch the jest of it: she exhausted her son and thus paid the consequences in a unique way. _Is Akamaru really that terrifying when he is sleeping? Kiba won't even let him on his bed much anymore because of the dog's antics here lately. Is he having violent dreams or something?_ Tsume left those thoughts behind and studied Shiinume Ayame. The first question that came to mind was what on earth was the girl wearing?

"What on earth are you wearing? Don't you have any jamies with you?" Tsume questioned, causing Kiba and Hana to also study her.

Ayame looked down on her clothes. _What is wrong with this?_

"It was boiling in here. Last night. I took off my shorts because I couldn't stand the heat. I took of my over-shirt before I crawled onto the bed because I didn't want to sweat." Everyone in the room held the same expression, which Ayame ignored: they all wondered what really went on in the girl's head. Ayame was used to this. It always happened when she went on missions in the Hidden Animal. But then, she would also end up taking the tank off by midnight._ I wonder why I always get that look. They act like I am a weirdo._

"Did my daughter say your name was Shiinume? As in the doggy people?" Ayame felt her eye twitch.

"My people are not dogs! My clan is super strong!" Ayame looked like she would blow her top; she almost looked like Sakura-chan did when she got angry. Only, Sakura was not funny; Ayame was. Kiba felt laughter creep out of his mouth and Ayame continued on about how her clan was calm, collected, and civilized, rarely using their kekkei genkai, if ever. She then turned her lecture to Kiba, which made him laugh even harder. Hana also started to chuckle, along with his mom. Ayame came over to him and began to hit him with her fist on the shoulder, not hurting him at all and caused him to collapse with laughter.

She began to shake with anger, balling her fist. Her eyes began to change color, though not potent enough to trigger the involuntary transition into dog mode. A knock on the door drew Hana and Kiba's mom from the room. The next thing she knew, Kiba was in full blown laughter, more so than previously, looking beyond her and at the door. She growled, wanting to punch the mutt in the nose, but knowing it wouldn't affect him at all. Instead, she turned to find a boy around Kiba's age, with a ponytail and a lazy way about him. He looked shocked at the site in front of him. A heavyset boy and blonde girl stood with him, both of whom were as shocked as ponytail. The blonde girl then looked enraged.

"Why is all the girls around me so pretty?" she screeched. "I mean, Billboard Brow is the only one I DON'T have to look out for! I challenge you! I know I am better at you in battle!" She then paused. "Weren't you the one who dragged Kiba into the shop yesterday?"

"Why is a girl standing in your room, Kiba?" Kiba tried to stop laughing, reading the true meaning behind Chouji's question.

"This is Shiinume Ayame. She is staying at my house. She is extremely temperature sensitive. And funny as heck!" Kiba didn't notice Ayame's right eye twitch. As he stood, she jumped onto his back and tried to choke him.

Shikamaru was still trying to figure out why a girl was standing half-naked in Kiba's bedroom that was not the obvious conclusion. He knew Kiba feared his mom too much to do something indecent when she could be home at any moment. But this was not why he was here. Tsunade gave him a mission and he needed Kiba and Akamaru's help with tracking. He shook his head and spoke.

"Kiba, get dressed. I need you and Akamaru to help on a mission." The girl froze then looked at Shikamaru. He tried to ignore the flimsy tank top that was falling down to reveal a very large chest. Shikamaru kept his gaze firmly on Kiba.

"No you don't. You do not need Kiba-kun to help on your mission." Shikamaru looked up at the girl, as did Ino and Chouji. Kiba looked nervous.

Ino officially hated her. _How could someone like her have such a big chest? I hate people like that!_

"Why do you say that?" Shikamaru asked. _You tell her off Shikamaru! She deserves it! No one with such beauty deserves courtesy. _

"Kiba-kun will be with me. He promised to take me around the village again. He will not go on a mission." Ino heard Shikamaru let out a sigh.

"Look, he can take you around the village some other time." Ino could almost hear the trademark leave his lips. _"Troublesome woman." Come on, Shika-kun! Say it, just say it!_

"Look, how about you come with us then. Just promise not to get in the way."

"Huh?" Ino sounded, almost at the same time as Kiba. "Why?" Ino glared at Kiba as he glared at her. Chouji backed up slightly, forgetting the bag of sausage in his hand momentarily.

"I am not a ninja. And Kiba-kun is staying here!" Ayame was being stubborn. She didn't know why she was being so insistent about Kiba staying. He had a job, just like she used to have a job. She hugged Kiba around the neck, as if to further argue with her mind about how ignorant she looked. Her hair fell around her face. The blonde looked mutinous.

"Gah!" The girl burst. Ayame could tell that something was off about the girl. _What is wrong with her?_ "How on earth do you manage to look like that? Not only do you have a chest that could rival Tsunade-sama, but you also have _perfect_ hair! Not only are you gorgeous, but you also have the appeal of thin and small in stature! I hate you!" Ayame blinked, unsure of what to make of the situation. _What is up with her? Has she lost her mind or something?_ "Why?" she shouted, tears coming to her eyes. "You better not go near my Sasuke-kun!" she pouted. Ayame felt her eyebrow rise involuntarily.

"Who?" Ayame asked. "Who cares about this Sake-person?" she asked. Ino stopped crying for a moment and looked at Ayame-chick, who was still perched on Kiba's back. Ino sniffled. Her eyes suddenly went dangerous. She picked a kunai out of her pouch and flung it at the girl. Ayame dogged it easily. She stood next to Kiba's pouch and picked out a shuriken. Kiba felt danger coming and stripped Ayame of the two shuriken in her palm and his weapon pouch, knowing that nothing good would come out of it. _Nothing good at all, no, nothing good will stem from a cat-fight. _

"Okay, uh, how about Ayame gets some clothes on," Kiba said, stuttering slightly. _I guess he was affected by the lack of clothing on the girl in his bedroom._ "I will be in the bathroom…" Kiba bolted past Chouji as he thought Kiba may just be human, too.

"Poor Kiba…" Chouji muttered. Chouji felt eyes on him and looked at Ayame. She had dog ears and a tail. She blinked a few times. "When did you get ears?" Chouji asked, shocked. He tried not to look at all of Ayame. He wasn't a pervert, but when someone was dressed like that, it was hard _not_ to notice the slim figure Shiinume-san showed off, rather unknowingly.

"Huh? I don't have ears," Shiinume-san said. Before Chouji could comment, Ino busted again.

"Why? Why, why, why? Why?" she screeched, hurting both Shikamaru and Chouji's ears.

"Quite screaming, Ino." Kiba walked back into the room, showered and dressed, minus his jacket and shoes. Ino's cheeks were filled with air, making her look like a puffer fish full-blown. "You look like a puffer fish." Ino's eyes flashed as she glared at Kiba.

"Kiba, I am _not _going on a mission with you if all you are going to do tease me the entire time."

"I wasn't teasing, though if you want to believe I am, go right ahead." Kiba ignored the offended Ino and stared at Ayame. Not only was her shirt falling, showing off her chest, but she had also gained ears and a tail. _What is up with the ears?_ "What's up with the ears and tail?" Kiba asked, unknowingly repeating Chouji.

Ayame wanted to smack everyone, but didn't she just frowned, her expression irritated.

"I do not have a tail and – kyaa!" Kiba walked behind her and pulled on what felt suspiciously like a tail and tweaked the ears _[Author note: think InuYasha, when Kagome first met him and she tweaked his ears]_. She blushed and covered her ears. She felt the furry tell-tell of her excitement. Her tail wrapped around her waist slightly. Akamaru looked at her curiously, Kiba's jacket held in his jaw, along with his weapons pouch.

"Just hurry up and get dressed. We can't sit around here forever. We have a mission." Ayame sent a half-hearted glare at Kiba. _I don't want to have to go on some mission. _She grabbed her bag and went to the bathroom. A_t least they fetched my bag._


	4. Chapter 4

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of Naruto. It all belongs to the mangaka. I only own the characters I made.

Chapter Four

"Where are we going, anyway?" Ayame complained for the billionth time since they started out ten minutes previously. Kiba was getting annoyed. He felt himself grow more and more impatient as time passed. "Are you going to tell me?" Kiba snapped.

"Do you have to say something the entire time we walk?" Ayame shut up in an instant, gaining the thanks of everyone, though no one said the words of gratitude. They knew it would set Ayame off again. And Kiba didn't necessarily want the thanks; he just wanted to shut her up. She may be cute, but she reminded him distinctly of Ino when she gushed on and on about Sasuke. She may not say much now-a-days, but when she did, she and Sakura could go on for _hours_. _Not to mention that Hinata doesn't give me time to tease her about Naruto anymore… All we ever do anymore is train, train, train. With Kurenai-sensei busy with her kid, Hinata talks about that rather than blush about Naruto. I miss the old days so much…_

Ayame was quiet. She wanted to be sassy and say she would not shut up unless they told her where they were going, but she didn't want Kiba to snap at her again. Not only was it embarrassing, but Kiba interested her. His attitude the other day fascinated her. She was no longer going to be a ninja, and she decided that a long time ago, since the day her clan was first attacked. The clan remained in the village long enough to get her safely out of the village. She remembered the day her brother and boyfriend of one day were killed so vividly she refused to continue down the path.

_-Three Years Prior-_

"Nii-san!" Thirteen-year-old Ayame shouted from the tree above him.

"Ayame, I don't have time for trifle conversation. I am not in a good mood. Your friend over here ruined it for me." Nii-san never spoke in such irritated tones to her. Sure, he spoke to their younger half-brother like that, but he was always calm around her.

"I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to shout that in the middle of battle, okay? I should have told you we went out yesterday and agreed to continue doing so. Besides, doesn't this count one person who is not against your clan? You should know the village is trying to wipe you out by now." She landed on the ground next to them, relaxed and calm.

"I am sorry, okay nii-san? I probably should have told you before we ate dinner together last night. Forgive us?"

"I guess the forgiveness will have to wait," a voice, seducing and reclusive, came from behind Ayame. Ayame leapt to the trees just before a kunai could pierce her heart. _That was a close call._ Ayame studied the figure behind her.

"Who are you?" she demanded. The figure chuckled.

"Ha! You think I will reveal that to you, a mere child?" Ayame clenched her teeth at the comment, sending a shuriken flying at the figure. They jumped with the agility of a cat. Her eyes narrowed as she leapt to the ground, managing to complete the circle nii-san and Kibashi-kun started. She sensed people in the trees.

"Run, Ayame. Don't stay here. Someone has to warn father." Nii-san sounded stern. Ayame looked to her big brother, shocked at his words. Her brother never underestimated her skills as a jonin, no matter how young she was.

"Nii-san…" she whispered.

"Go! And I forgive you for not telling me about the stupid idiot earlier, okay? So go!" She looked at her brother for a moment before jumping to a tree. She heard shuriken clink against each other. When far enough, she looked back, finding her brother and boyfriend of one day completely overwhelmed. She felt tears in her eyes, knowing deep down that she was more likely than not to see her brother ever again. She continued to watch hurling herself home as she turned away from the blow that would finish her brother. When reaching the house, she put together a bag and stashed it in the roof for when the inevitable would come and she would be forced to run away from home.

_-One Year Prior-_

Her father came into her room and handed her the sacred necklace. Ayame looked up at her father, knowing what was happening, wishing it was not. They were coming for her father. He gave her a separate bag; it contained all of the sacred clan secrets, all scrolls and paintings that would be treacherous to the clan should they be revealed.

"Dad…"

"Run. Grab your bag in the attic and escape through there. Make sure to close it tight, seal it, and run through the trees. You have to survive, if this clan is to ever survive in the future. Many of us have already scattered. You have to go now." Ayame didn't hesitate. She grabbed the bag and raced through the house, to the attic, and through the secret latch, securing it before running away, and running through the trees with Doodle. _How long will the hiding last?_

_-A Mere Ten Minutes Before Our First Meeting-_

"Well, well. Looks like I have caught my prey." Ayame whirled. _This voice! It can't be!_ "I have longed for this moment for a long time." Ayame whirled and found herself surrounded by people. The necklace around her neck glittered, the gems on the crucifix shining with contained power. The coveted necklace gave her family grief for generations, and Ayame was yet to think the gleam was power. _Nii-san…_ Ayame fought tears as she remembered with vivid clarity the image of the poisoned blade piercing her brother's heart, the looks everyone in her village gave her when they heard the full tale.

She never wanted to be a ninja after that. She would purposely fail missions, endanger comrades, and mouth off at superiors to get her name removed from the ninja registry. None of her tactics ever succeeded. Now she stood, surrounded by former comrades, long knowing they were the ones who killed her nii-san. She almost never thought of the boy who was a boyfriend for less than a day other than the fact that he had loved her enough to die for her. She never forgot the sacrifice, but her brother meant more to her. She noticed her clan's dogs fighting alongside the traitors. With a quick seal, she easily failed them, rendering them unconscious within seconds. Kechiko-san smirked.

"No wonder they consider you a legend. You took down the dogs within a mere three-second timeframe." Ayame studied each and every face. Everyone wore the same expression of pure hatred on their face. Her eyes grew sad with the knowledge that some of them would have to die by her kunai and jutsu. _I guess I knew that they would find me. It's good that I continued to train. _Ayame drew up a battle stance, kunai in hand and fought against the five in front of her. Doodle assisted, surrounded by chakra to deflect the shuriken back at the originator. Ayame didn't need the whispering grass to tell her that they planned to do something involving the center of the meadow.

"Gah!" Ayame shouted, dispatching one of the men for a little while, weakening him considerably. She heard distant barking, but didn't look over at the newcomer, preferring to keep out of the range of more enemies.

"Shiinume-san!" a voice called from the shadows. Ayame froze and looked betrayed. Doodle yelped and Ayame looked to see her disappear. She felt someone grab hold of her waist and pull her from the center of the meadow. "Give it up, Shiinume-san. After all, your clan is dying out. You might as well just give into your destiny." A shuriken flew towards them and a young man countered it with a kunai. Ayame sucked in a breath as she looked at her savior. With the Bag of Sacred Belongings on her back, she felt oddly safe around him.

Ayame didn't need to finish out the memory to know she never intended to go on another mission. She now remembered why Kiba-kun's name was so familiar to her. She always called her boyfriend of one day Kiba before they got involved romantically.

_-Back to the Present-_

Ayame slammed into a person, falling. She felt an arm circling her waist instead of the rock hard ground impacting her down to the bones. She looked up to find Ponytail holding her securely.

"Ponytail…" Ayame said, disappointment written all over her face and dressing her voice.

"Geez, you're so troublesome," he muttered. Ayame felt her temple pulse. She growled. "The least you can do is thank me, even if I am not your favorite dog boy. You don't look like your frame can handle a collision with the ground." Ayame blinked, pouting slightly. _'…even if I am not your favorite dog boy…' _Ayame's eyes widened as her cheeks warmed.

"Kya!" She hit Shikamaru on the head a few times.

"Hey! What did I do? Stop it!" Shikamaru flinched as she raised her fist again. He never felt the impact, however. He looked to find a humorously angry Shiinume-san standing in from of him. "And did you just call me Ponytail?" Ino and Chouji laughed.

"We never did introduce ourselves." Chouji said. "It is kind of funny that she called you Ponytail, though. I wonder what she calls Ino," the heavyset boy commented.

"Blondie," Ayame said, getting distracted from her anger at him. Ino's right eye twitched.

Before Ayame could say more, she sensed danger and jumped instinctively. Everyone looked at her and dodged just as they spotted kunai coming towards them. Ayame flipped in the air and landed in the nearest tree. She looked down to see the last person she wished to run into.

"Shiinume Ayame! Turn yourself in!" Ayame clenched her teeth and reached instinctively for her back pocket. Her pouch wasn't there. _Shoot! I wasn't expecting to have to fight._ Ayame narrowed her eyes at Keshino Iochi, resisting the urge to roll them.

"Why are you here Iochi?" Ayame shouted.

"I should be asking you that question. You are not welcome in the Hidden Animal anymore." Ayame looked around. _See? They should have told me where they were going and I would have-! _"I am shocked you are even near Crucifix Meadow to begin with. You should know better than anyone why the meadow is so. You could redeem yourself if you hand over the necklace." Ayame narrowed her eyes, pushing down her emotions. She could feel the Leaf shinobi eyeing her.

"The necklace is my father's, not village property. You will never get it off of me."

"_Do_ you plan on running forever? You know full well that people in the village and those nearby are to report any spotting of you. Just because your clan was powerful before doesn't mean anything about now. You are the last of your clan, even if you were the–."

"Oh, shut it. Why am I the last to know where everyone else was going?" She glared at her group. Ponytail looked thoughtful. He was studying Iochi. Said man narrowed his eyes in disappointment and some other unnamable emotion.

"Iochi, right?" he asked.

"Nara Shikamaru, if I am not mistaken?" Iochi asked.

"Yes."

"Please wait a moment. This girl is a missing-nin from our village," he said.

"I am not a ninja! I quit a long time ago."

"You are still a ninja. No shinobi ever quits. And you are still on the registry."

Ayame formed seals; Iochi countered. She jumped and skidded behind him, barks surrounding Iochi before he could finish. He covered his ears. _Damn! She trapped me in her genjutsu! I should have brought backup._ The genjutsu faded and Iochi turned to see Iruku behind him.

"Iruku!" he exclaimed. "Thank goodness!"

"You should have brought someone with you, even if you had the slightest feeling you would have to face her, especially considering your emotions toward her."

"I was sent to greet Leaf shinobi, not running into Shiinume Ayame!" Iruku hmmed.

"True, no one would have expected to see her near Crucifix Meadow."

Iochi looked to see Ayame growing angry; she formed seals with lightening speed and Iochi and Iruku jumped as chakra dogs charged at them. Iochi saw a smirk on her face a felt dread: they fell right into her trap. _Shoot! I forgot about this jutsu!_ He felt himself fly into a tree, Iruku landed next to him.

"I always forget that she is smarter than she looks…" Iruku mumbled, though it was louder than he thought. _No kidding. No wonder Miyuki is always grumbling about failed plans…_

"You two are idiots. I could easily beat you. Old habits do die hard though."

Kiba watched the girl standing in front of him with renewed respect. He never witnessed her jutsu before and was impressed. Shikamaru even looked impressed.

"How did you do that?" the newcomer said in amazement.

"Do what?" Ayame asked quizzically.

"Beat your brother. You are way harder to beat now than he was at age 20."

"Nii-san…?" Ayame sounded sad. Her eyes flashed. She charged, barely giving the two boys time to stand before using hand to hand combat on them. They were on the defensive. "Do not talk about my nii-san as if you had nothing to do with it!"

Ayame was angry, angrier than ever before, and these two knew it. Neither had any idea about how much she hated herself for what happened to her nii-san. Both boys landed on the ground, beaten up and bruised as they groaned. Ayame placed a foot on Iochi, not being light about it.

"Ayame-cha – ah!" Iochi screamed in pain as Ayame sent waves of chakra through him, rendering him speechless. Ayame went rigid as she heard a noise behind her. She jumped, just before the kunai could pierce her heart for the second time that day. Her eyes narrowed. _Her again. This is the reason I do not come here!_

"Heightened senses saved you earlier and the time before. Why are you so jumpy, Ayame-chi?" the seductive and reclusive voice from years ago came back again. Iochi and Iruku looked up.

"You!" Iruku said.

"You're the one…!" Iochi started.

"Yes. I never did get my reward for telling you the name of the young men's murderer. Of course, no one did believe me when I said flesh and blood was capable of anything." Pain and anger held Ayame's face captive.

"You framed me! You killed nii-san and Kiba-chi!" Ayame's eyes became glossy and vision almost blurry at the rim.

The shaded figure, eyes hidden, gave a small smile.

"You killed them. You killed them and ran home like a baby, telling your father someone shoved a poisoned blade into your injured brother and boyfriend's heart. You-!"

"You did!" Kiba never heard a desperate accusation like that before. And he could hear the certainty. "He told me to run, but I didn't go all the way home. I saw you kill them!" Ayame formed seals, and drew blood, placing her hand on the tree under her feet. Two scrolls landed in her hands. Opening one, she summoned yet again, this time a white shuriken came.

Shikamaru studied her. Something was different about her, and the scrolls in front of her proved it. She summoned them and summoned yet again. _What is so special about that necklace? And who is the shaded figure there?_

"Shikamaru, just who is Ayame-chan?" Ino and Chouji asked.

"I have no idea." He studied Ayame again and felt something big about to happen. Ayame threw the white shuriken and it nicked the shaded figure and came back to Shiinume-san. The façade disappeared and in front of them stood Keshino Miyuki.

"You!" Kiba shouted. Team 10 looked at Kiba with confusion. "You tried to kill me that one time!"

"Miyuki-sama!" Ayame burst into insane laughter.

"Oh, that is funny. 'Miyuki-sama!' Ha! Oh, what happened? Did you dad die and your mom marry the village leader? Oh, you are funnier than Mi-chi!" Ayame continued to laugh. "OH! I get it! You found out that my brother was killed by the shaded informer and decided to scare me with that image." Keshino's eye twitched with anger.

"Just you wait. I will capture you. You can bring yourself back up if you just handed over your clan's documents."

"And risk total annihilation of my clan?" Ayame smirked. "No thank you." The three items disappeared with a poof, her tool pouch replacing them. She hooked it to her belt loop, drawing out a kunai and leapt to the ground, clashing with Keshino. Iochi and Iruku knew better than to enter the fray. They were not stupid enough to get caught up in a cat fight. The girls broke apart, both starting their own jutsu. Both released at the same time. Ayame slammed against the tree behind her, grimacing. She felt the chakra she built up leave. _No… This is genjutsu. Come on, dog! Come up already! Unless…_ Ayame fell to her knees.

"You…! How did you…?" Keshino gave a smirk.

"You forgot a relic. You know? That dog whistle thing?" Ayame's eyes widened as realization hit.

"No!" The word faltered as Iochi and Iruku grabbed her arms, Ayame incapable of fighting back due to the imprisoning genjutsu. They dragged her away from Keshino, taking advantage of the fact that she could not defend herself. Ayame shook with anger, unsure of what to do anymore. _I can't believe the dog whistle held this genjutsu. It rendered my jutsu powerless. It rendered my jutsu powerless. …_


	5. Chapter 5

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of Naruto. It all belongs to the mangaka. I only own the characters I made.

Chapter Five

"She won't be able to perform any jutsu. We chained her hands above her head and her feet are tied together. We also put up a control guard so that she will not be able to change into a dog." Ayame felt a pain in her head as she heard the voices echo over to her. She opened her eyes and saw two men standing by the gate of her cell. She saw her jacket was on her again, buttoned up. Her marbled blue and lavender heels still remained on her feet, though surrounded with chakra. Her thin sky blue jeans were dusty and holes at the knees showed the wear and tear from the many years of abuse. She looked at the man controlling her chakra. She discreetly slid the heels off, removing the chakra surrounding them.

The control shinobi looked bored as he held the seal he formed. _I never was given the opportunity to be on control duty for village criminals… I wonder if they have been warned about eye jutsu. Usually female prisoners know them… I should try, just for kicks. _Ayame concentrated on the control shinobi's gaze. She formed the image of her struggling to release herself by sheer force.

"I wouldn't do that, especially if you do not want to break your wrist." The image Ayame projected interacted with the shinobi, forcing him to release the seal. He came to open the door of the cage, but Ayame already changed her hands to paws and released her self. She knew the jutsu she cast was still in effect.

The shinobi, who she now recognized as Emi-chan's ex-boyfriend, continued toward where she knew he thought he saw her. Ayame herself was invisible to the man. Ayame untied her feet and slipped on the heels after releasing the chakra hold she was sure would trigger again if she slipped them back on and stood behind him, slipping a kunai out of his pouch and released the hold of her genjutsu just in time to let him know that he was fooled by Shiinume Ayame.

"You...!" His mouth failed as Ayame shoved the kunai up, piercing his heart, lung, and spine in one hit. He coughed up blood and fell to the ground. _That was for breaking Emi-chan's heart._

Ayame removed the kunai and tossed it in a disposal bin filled with what she knew would dissolve the kunai's tracking ability. She transformed herself and left the cage, walking around a corner.

"Sir, I got locked into the prison earlier when they locked someone else up. I came to visit a friend. Would you mind letting me out?" Her voice came out small and scared. _Perfect!_ Ayame didn't need to look down to know that she was wearing a black top barely covering her bust and a black mini skirt that was short enough for a pervert to get a full view just by sitting down, hair now midnight black. _This always works. Guys are so easy to figure out sometimes!_ The guard turned to look at her. He easily became distracted.

"Sure thing, miss," he said eagerly unlocking the door. Ayame kissed his cheek for extra effect. _His thoughts are so easy to read…_ She skipped away from the jail, transforming her outfit a little. She walked around town, curious as to how much changed within the last year and a half. She spotted Kiba-kun, Akamaru, and Blondie walking around town together. The heavyset boy sat at a food stand, chugging down food. She assumed Ponytail was somewhere else, likely to get away from his noisy teammate.

"I really am confused about that girl you picked up in the woods, though, Kiba! I mean, she claims she isn't a ninja, yet she goes off and almost obliterates our client! Just who is she? And how did she manage to think of a maneuver like that? I only know of Shikamaru who can manage something like that in a blink of an eye, maybe Naruto because he is so random." Ayame walked over to them. Akamaru barked in greeting. Ino looked at her suspiciously. Ayame just smiled. Kiba-kun looked at her blankly.

"Konbanwa! I was wondering if you could tell me where I can find Keshino Miyuki-san?" she asked. Kiba-kun fought back an irritated expression and Blondie struggled to keep herself from asking more about her. Ayame was just trying to keep her face innocent.

"Oy! Ino, Kiba! Shikamaru said we should go to the apartment we are staying in for the remainder of the mission." The heavyset boy came over and I saw Ponytail over by the food stand, buying a treat.

"Is the food over there any good?" Ayame figured she would ask him. He _did_ look like he ate almost the entire stand. The heavyset boy looked as if his dreams came true.

"Oh yes! The food is excellent. They claim to use only the best ingredients and they do. I can just tell."

"Chouji…" Ino, the blonde, complained.

"She asked, I responded." Chouji, the heavyset boy, looked to Ayame again. "I would recommend the dog soup –" Ayame felt her eyes flash unintentionally. Chouji backed away and Ayame tried to calm down. She, cursed, however and turned only to find Keshino Miyuki behind her. Keshino looked shocked to see her. Ayame could have sworn she looked deadly, but Keshino smiled big and gave her a hug.

"Umi-chi! Oh my goodness! It has been such a long time!" Ayame blinked, wondering briefly before she remembered she assumed this image before. "Oh my! Wow, I _love_ your outfit. Did you hear? Shiinume-san has been retained. Thank goodness. She has caused so much pain for the village. Where have you been, by the way? I haven't seen you in… Wow! I haven't seen you in a year and a half! What have you been doing all this time?"

Keshino continued to chatter as she dragged 'Umi-chi' away. She threw a look to Kiba, Ino, and Chouji. When she was out of earshot, Ino commented.

"If I am not mistaken, I think she wants us to save her."

"Troublesome." All three jumped at the sound of Shikamaru's voice.

"What do you mean, troublesome?" Chouji asked.

"All the ways I can think of on how to break Shiinume-san out of prison are all troublesome. Maybe we can force Kiba to visit her tomorrow…" Shikamaru's voice was drowned out by a loud alarm sounding throughout the village.

"THE FUGITIVE HAS ESCAPED! IF ANYONE LAYS EYES ON SHIINUME AYAME, MISSING-NIN, CONTACT THE VILLAGE ELDERS IMMEDIATELY. DO NOT PURSUE AN ATTACK." Shikamaru blinked, as did Ino, Chouji, Kiba, and Akamaru.

"I don't think we have to break her out anymore," Chouji commented, stating the obvious.

"Really, Kiba, who and what is she?" Ino commented. Kiba merely blinked. _That is a good question, Ino. _Shikamaru scratched the back of her head.

"For some reason, her name has been bugging me ever since I heard it. I think someone mentioned it to me before. I know the Shiinume are a clan of this village. I know that their princess is the best of all of them. I think she is a jonin and only around sixteen. Until the Keshino clan managed to usurp power, the clan princess' grandfather was the leader off the village." Shikamaru listed off facts left and right and Kiba started to let them pass him by, hearing them, but not concentrating on anything in particular. All he knew was that Shiinume Ayame must have done something big to goad the village to anger. "Maybe…" Shikamaru started, shaking his head. Kiba looked at him as Ino demanded him to say what he was thinking.

"Come on, Shikamaru. It can't be so far fetched."

"Tell us," Chouji said. Kiba just looked at him expectantly. Akamaru decided to lie down on the ground. Shikamaru hesitated before launching into his crazy idea.

"Maybe she _is _the Shiinume clan princess." Ino rolled her eyes.

"Now I see why you didn't want to say anything. She isn't the daughter of the Shiinume Clan leader. If she was, they would call her Shiinume-sama, no matter what they thought of her." People turned to stare at Ino, giving her dirty looks.

Keshino dragged Ayame back over to Kiba-kun and his group. She wanted to collapse. She didn't however. Something about the air surrounding Keshino told her that she was already mad.

"What did you just say?" Ino looked to Keshino.

"That even if someone was hated by their village like Shiinume Ayame seems to be, using her as an example, if they were in the royalty of a clan, they would still be honored. For example, the princess of the Shiinume clan would still be called Shiinume-sama." Keshino looked like she would burst into flame. Ayame tried to back up.

"She is not a lady!" she screeched before storming off, letting go of Ayame's arm just short of ripping it off. Ayame looked at her stunned. _I think I know where all the opposition is stemming from right now…_ Keshino did not get very far before she would be stopped again. Those surrounding could hear every word of the conversation.

"Keshino-sama! The control shinobi is dead. We found a half-dissolved kunai in the bucket in the room." Ayame froze slightly. _Act natural._

"Who helped her out of there?" Keshino demanded.

"Keshino-sama… Ayame-chan is an extremely powerful kunoichi. You yourself know the only reason she didn't become ANBU is because she felt it unnecessary and too much work. She could have easily gotten out herself…!" Keshino's eyes narrowed at the shinobi in front of her. _Isn't he the one who was at the jail gate?_

"Who?"

"Aya – I mean Shiinume could have – I am going to go see if anyone has seen her!" The shinobi took off, not wanting to be scrutinized by Keshino any longer. Ayame backed away slowly and discreetly, running to the pen she saw all the clan dogs in. She looked around and slipped in, telling them all to run and track the scent to its village source. She held one of Kiba-kun's shirts in her hand. All ran, except one, a pup about two days old. _Aw! So cute! _The puppy came over to her and wagged its tail. Ayame quickly snatched it up and disappeared from the pen. She appeared behind Akamaru, placing the puppy under the jacket she donned from a house she snuck into seconds previously. Akamaru looked at her, sniffing around. He barked. Ayame blinked and tried not to think much on how Akamaru could smell her scent. She bent to scratch his ear.

"Akamaru, Ayame-chan isn't around us." Ayame tried to make her face as natural as possible. Akamaru barked again. "Akamaru, this is Keshino's friend. She is not Ayame-chan." Kiba-kun sounded irritated.

"Where are you guys staying?" Ayame asked, wanting to know where Kiba-kun and the rest would be staying to sneak into their visiting quarters. She would sneak in that night, return Kiba-kun's shirt and sneak the puppy she saved into the apartment. _I think I will name her Marumi-chan. Yeah! I will. I will ask Kiba if he thinks the name is cute. Wait! Why would I care about Kiba-kun's opinion? I barely know the guy. Oh, if only Kibashi-kun was still around, I would not be acting all weird about Kiba-kun._

"Do you guys think that you could help me out? Shiinume Ayame seems to be close to you. She is a danger to this village and needs to be apprehended –!"

"You plan on hurting Ayame-sama?" A girl appeared behind Keshino and Ayame's eyes widened. She backed up a little and lifted her hand, telling Emi-chan silently to not mention who she really was. Emi-chan looked at her weird and everyone turned to look at her.

Kiba looked at her like she was crazy, as Umi-chan gave an overly cheerful face, her smile cheesy. _What is up with her?_ His thoughts were interrupted by the girl who showed up, however.

"Aya –!"

"Ayame is not a lady!" Keshino shrieked, and the girl suddenly understood whatever Umi-chan was doing before hand. Umi-chan gave a sigh of relief, which Kiba did not think was associated with the screeching Keshino was now emitting. When she looked at Keshino (Kiba still studying the girl Keshino seemed so enthusiastic about meeting up with), Kiba detected slight hatred. _There is something strange about this girl…_ A bark caught his attention and Kiba saw the features of the girl he studied freeze up. No one else seemed to notice the small bark that came from the girl, from under her jacket, an accessory she donned after she disappeared.

Keshino stormed off and Emi looked after her, terrified. She had not meant to set Keshino-chan off like she did. Making sure the new village princess was out of earshot, she looked to Umi-chan, whom she knew without a doubt was Ayame-sama.

"What are you doing here? If she finds out that you are not Umi-chan – or better yet! The fact that Umi-chan if not even a real person! – you will be next to dead!" Ayame-sama looked at Emi calmly.

"Relax, it is not like she can dispel well enough anyway. Besides, as soon as I retrieve the whistle, I will leave."

"But –!"

"No buts, Emi-chan," Ayame-sama said, "because I am not leaving without taking back the whistle. They stole it from the compound before I left. Not only are the Keshino clan usurping power, they are trying to destroy the one clan that can destroy them. The only reason I was even caught –!"

"Ayame-sama! Why are you doing this? You know full and well that being caught had nothing to do with the dog whistle."

"Emi –" Umi-chan started again.

"Did you just say Ayame-sama?" Ino started, determined to figure this out once and for all.

"So?" Emi-chan asked, her name clarified earlier by Umi-chan. _I am so confused._

"But she is Umi-chan, not Shiinume Ayame."

"Oh, shut up, Blondie." Ino looked to the girl who she now confirmed was indeed Ayame-chan.

"You're Ayame-chan?" Kiba asked, Ino knowing he just woke from his stupor from all the events up till now.

"Geez, Kiba. Try to pick up the pace." Ayame smirked as she spoke. A yip broke the ice and Ayame opened up the jacket donned and revealed a small puppy. "Marumi, I heard you earlier. Will you please stop complaining about being in a stuffy jacket?" Kiba-kun looked to the dog and immediately honed in on the dog. Ayame giggled, the boys in their group as well. Blondie looked like a vein would pop and Emi-chan looked as if she didn't know whether to laugh or to cry in outrage.

"Cute!" Ayame burst into laughter and Akamaru looked wearily at Kiba-kun._ Oh gosh! And I thought Kibashi-kun had been innocent! This guy could make my stomach hurt from laughing so much! Blondie looks like she wants to kill right now!_ Ponytail and Big Bones held Ino back as she went flying towards Kiba-kun. Kiba-kun walked over to Ayame and brought a hand to scratch Marumi's ear.

Kiba looked over at everyone and was, to say the least, shocked to find Ino ready to kill, Shikamaru and Chouji struggling to laugh, breathe, and hold the said blonde at the same time, and Emi-chan trying to decide what she will do.

"So, where are you guys staying?" Ayame-chan said again. Kiba looked over at her and down to the dog. _Why does Ino look like she wants to kill me?_ Kiba grabbed the puppy with surprisingly gentle hands and began to cuddle it. He felt a gaze boring into his head. He looked up to find Ayame-chan studying him carefully. He felt his face heating up. Someone behind him laughed and he turned to see Ino calmed and now content to giggle at him.

Kiba was as red as a tomato. Shikamaru could see almost immediately that he was almost embarrassed to be caught acting so innocently. _He is surprisingly innocent. I wonder why he tries to hide it..._ The teen with the ponytail stared at the scene in front of him as it played out. For a guy who seemed to have not a romantic bone in his body, Shikamaru let the little (imagined) romance between the two people in front of him play out in his head. He did not doubt, and was almost completely certain, that Kiba would eventually end up asking the blue haired princess out at some point in the future.

"How much do you want to bet that he will ask her out within the next month?"

Shikamaru glanced over at the blue-eyed blonde and Chouji knew almost immediately that Shikamaru was thinking the same thing as Ino.

"I give them about two or three." Chouji chuckled.

"Geez, I think I will have to keep tabs on this one. I wonder if I should join in on the bet…" Chouji mused for a few moments as his teammates stared him down. He stared at the almost-couple in front of him.

"Chouji!" Ino and, much to Chouji's surprise, Shikamaru said impatiently.

"Okay, okay! I say that they will kiss within the next week, but they will _not_ acknowledge the romance between the two openly for about three months."

Emi snorted. She listened to the conversation between the three.

"You're name is Chouji, right?" Emi asked the heavy set boy. Chouji turned and looked at the young servant. The boy nodded hesitantly.

"Do you three mind if I make a prediction as to who will be right?" The three teammates looked at each other and looked at the small girl and nodded.

"Chouji is going to win this bet." Emi smiled secretively as she looked at her lady and the young man standing next to her.


	6. Chapter 6

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of Naruto. It all belongs to the mangaka. I only own the characters I made.

Chapter Six

At the apartment, just a few blocks from the dog pen, Ayame remained in her disguise. She did not feel safe revealing her appearance just yet. _Not until I get the dog whistle back…_ Kiba looked at her and frowned. She looked away, trying not to think about her feelings. She still refused to acknowledge she was falling for the dog boy.

"Why don't you just change back into your normal form? It isn't like anyone here will try to turn you in. Nara here was actually thinking of ways to break you out before we heard you already did so yourself." Ayame studied the young man with the ponytail. _For someone resembling a pineapple, I heard he is pretty smart._

"Come up with any good plans for that one?" Shikamaru looked up at her. "You are Shikamaru, right? I didn't quite get the names earlier. All I know is that Blondie over there is a Yamanaka. Her scent is practically rolling off of her. And, of course, I know Kiba-kun. I think someone said you were Chouji earlier," Shiinume-san pointed to Chouji, "but I am not sure of Ponytail's name." Shikamaru smirked. This faerie-like girl didn't miss a beat. "Nara Shikamaru." He blinked and dropped the smile. He didn't expect her to jump off the canon and answer not even seconds after she asked said question.

"Are you psychic or something? I didn't even say anything."

"I was foggy earlier. Iruku mentioned your name before they trapped me with the whistle. You are Nara Shikamaru, top strategist of Konoha. You are a valuable asset to them and this village decided they needed a genius with an IQ over two hundred to protect Keshino. After all, the girl can't even protect herself or fight someone without wearing the person down before fighting them herself. I'm the example. She cheats, too. Did you know she cheated her way through the Chunin Exams? She decided I should choose the person she fought. I got out of fighting her due to a family issue." Shikamaru smirked. Shiinume-san narrowed her eyes.

_What is up with her? She is jumping around everywhere._ Before Shikamaru could answer, he got interrupted by Ino.

"Just who are you? Why does this village hate you so much? And why did that girl – Emi-chan, right? – call you Ayame-sama?" Shiinume-san suddenly became deathly silent. The expression on her face spoke bad news to Shikamaru. It gave no indication as to what she was thinking. And though this wouldn't have triggered anything normally, something told the pineapple-haired ninja that this particular Lady was all too familiar with the blank expression. _How does she manage to give an innocent expression perfectly? She is not overdoing the expression, but I can just sense the anger boiling in her. She can be more troublesome than my mother, Ino, and Temari combined._ Just as Shikamaru finished that thought, Shiinume-san snapped.

Her shrill scream awakened Akamaru. The poor dog looked up from his position on the elegantly decorated ottoman. Akamaru held a low whine that only Marumi seemed to catch. He gave a bark, but it was drowned out by the scream Ya-chan gave out. The small pup attempted to crawl under the larger dog, succeeding, coming up between the forelegs. Both dogs gave small whines, begging for relief. Akamaru jumped up and growled as the door sprang open and two guard ninja can storming in, alerted by the screams.

"What's going on? Did someone hurt you?" Ya-chan gave a glowering look to Ino and Akamaru backed up, bumping into one of the guards, who jumped with a start.

Kiba looked over at Akamaru and saw immediately that Ayame-chan hit the level he could not handle. The dog's tail was between his hind legs and ears pressed against his skull. Marumi-chan buried herself into the ottoman, probably planning to hide in there for eternity.

"You are just asking that now? What made you wonder? Was it the fact that I was in your village for three days? Or maybe the frequent visits to your flower shop? Oh! I know! It must have been the agility. I mean, not just anyone can keep up with the Shinobi of Konoha! You guys can be so stupid sometimes. Why did you not ask these questions _before_ allowing me entrance to your village? Geez!" Kiba blinked a few times before thinking to comment. Shikamaru unwittingly interrupted Kiba before Ino, who now seethed with anger as well, could respond.

"May we help you two?" Ayame swerved to the door, suddenly terrified. _Oh frap! When did Chikomu and Shikomu get there? How much did they hear?_

"Oh, we came over because we heard screaming. Sorry if we interrupted anything." Shikomu glanced in Ayame's direction and started to leave. A quick seal and Shikomu did a double take. Ayame knew the boy would never mistake the outfit she had on. Sure enough, the boy was redder than a tomato. All people in the room looked at him as Ayame turned on the light.

"Is something wrong?" Her voice trilled and Ayame fought to hide a giggle as she watched the eighteen year old go red with embarrassment.

Shikomu was obviously trying hard _not_ to think about the one and only time anyone would call the silent ninja a lousy pervert. Ayame gave way to a small giggle as she thought back on the fond memory.

-Four Months Prior-

Ayame tried to jump into the tree, overly conscious of the mini skirt she wore. _Why, oh why, did I forget the stupid leggings at the campsite? Now I have to disguise myself just to get an article of clothing that had no significance before in my life. _Ayame missed a step and fell, falling down. She tried not to shriek as she fell, bracing herself for pain. It never came, however, because she landed on something – or rather someone. She sat up, quickly standing before the person asked her to. Ayame looked down to see the very red face of Shikomu. He looked embarrassed; Ayame looked around her and found nothing, finally deciding to look down at herself; she went bright red and immediately fell to the ground, fixing her skirt and shirt in the process. _Oh gosh! Oh gosh! Kya! _Ayame stood up again and quickly ran to get the legging.

"I am so sorry! I didn't mean to land on you!" Ayame grabbed the leggings, ignoring looks from everyone else, and bolted passed Shikomu again, who still sat stunned, and ran back to were she knew she would not be found.

-Back to the Present-

"Shikomu? Something wrong?" Said person looked away from his twin brother, not wanting him to see the red tone. His embarrassment furthered when people in the street peered in to look at him. Without warning, the boy bolted from the room, trying to hide from every person and animal around him. "Shikomu!" Chikomu took off after him and Ayame smirked. Everyone who remained glanced at her and her smile faded slightly.

"What?" she asked innocently, unsure of the way she should react to the sudden focus on her. "What? It's not my fault!" Emi-chan walked in.

"Why did I just see the komu twins running down the street shouting? Shikomu looked like he was about to burst a vein on his face." Emi-chan took one look at Ayame and immediately knew what was going on. "No. No, no, no. He is _not_ one of the many victims to the racy top!" Ayame smiled.

"It was a complete accident. And it may have been a slight bit racier than that…."Ayame looked away at the last statement. Emi-chan's eyes widened.

"Oh! He walked in on you in a bath! Oh my! Why didn't you tell me?" Ayame went bright red.

"He did not! _No one_ has ever been given the chance to walk in on me during a bath without being killed."

"So you are saying someone has seen you naked before?" Shikamaru asked seemingly completely unaware of the blunt and innocent perversion of the statement. Ino went bright red, as did Emi-chan and Ayame. Ayame wanted to strangle the ponytailed genius. She clenched and unclenched her hands repeatedly and unconsciously, telling her inner self it would not be a good idea to give into the provoking statement.

"No, I have not been given the chance to pummel a pervert before." Kiba tried not to take that statement and see the danger written all over it. But no matter how hard he tried, he could see through blatant signs that Shikamaru unwittingly stepped on a land mine of poison. _Geez, Nara. I would have thought you were the one who would want to choose a less 'troublesome' way to die. _

"Then, what happened?" Ino looked at Kiba and Kiba knew she didn't want to be here. Ayame-chan turned and looked at him, turning away just as quickly. Kiba's cocked head did nothing to get her to look at him. She didn't look threatening, so Kiba felt a little bit safer.

Ayame blushed; embarrassed by the fact that Kiba asked her such a question, she tried to not think about the answer itself. She never liked admitting that she had once unwillingly and unwittingly flashed someone. _It is so embarrassing…_

"Ayame-chan?" Kiba and Ino asked simultaneously, with Kiba suddenly right in front of her. She flinched, skittering away from him in surprise.

"K-kiba-kun!" Chouji and Nara chuckled, Chouji much louder than the ponytailed genius. Ayame flushed darker and glared at them. "Shut up, you bamboozling idiots. I have weapons, and I know how to use them, so you might want to watch yourself." _What the heck did I just say? I never talk like that! _

Kiba stared at Ayame-chan and knew immediately that unless he hounded her for the answer, he would never get one. Hounding her was difficult, however, as Ayame-chan seemed to distract him as well.

"You know, the guy asked a good question earlier. What happened with the komu twins if one did not see you naked?" Kiba turned and looked at the servant girl. _I guess she isn't distracted._ Kiba glanced back at Ayame-chan and the girl remained bright red. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out, at least anything recognizable. "Sorry, I didn't catch that last bit." _Her name was Emi-chan, right?_

Emi knew she was cruising to get killed, but she really wanted to know what set off the komu twins. It was really hard to stump those two, even if they happened to be the most idiotic and brainless ninja in the village.

"Shikomu…tree…fell out of…unintentional flash…" Emi knew immediately what happened upon hearing those three phrases. Laughter erupted from her and she tried hard to calm herself down, all to no avail. She was soon left out of the conversation buzzing around her, everyone now happy and cheerful, somehow coming upon the realization that Ayame-sama was not to be used as the butt of the jokes. Emi calmed down eventually, tuning in at one point or another, usually when the topic was on cuisine.

Ayame gave a short laugh at something Kiba-kun said, already dropping the jutsu when she was positive it would be safe. Rooms were designated, dinner was being cooked, and they already had their schedule designed for them, courtesy of Keshino Miyuki.

"So, when Hana came into the bathroom the next day, she saw all of her lipstick gone and the message on the board. It was _so_ much fun watching her beat the life out of Uchiha Itachi! I mean, no one could have possibly scared him more so than she did. He was terrified. Who knew writing 'aishiteru' to your girlfriend would almost get you killed. I don't doubt that he feared he would never live till the next day. Seriously, though! I do not know how women in the Inuzuka Clan find men! Mom scared dad away, Hana picked the unluckiest guy in the world, and to top it off, their dogs don't let anyone near them again."

Kiba finished off the statement to Ayame-chan and Ino laughing. Shikamaru gave a small smirk.

"You're mom is nothing compared to mine. At least you like most of your chores. The only chore I like is caring for the deer."

"Only because you can laze around when taking care of them," Ino interrupted, chuckling still from Kiba's earlier comment on his mother and sister.

"No kidding. You are lazier than Kichomi. And he wouldn't even get up for his food." Kiba thought fondly about the old dog his mom took care of. As much as Kiba hated to admit it, the dog was pretty cool, even if he was lazier than a door mat.

"And just who is Kichomi?" Ayame commented, wanting to change the topic. As much as the Nara intrigued her, she already knew all about him. He was infamous, even if he didn't know it. Everyone knew about his lazy genius.

"Oh, he's my neighbor's dog. He has to be the laziest being alive. Cho-san gave him to us because he didn't want to deal with a lazy dog." Ayame blinked before changing the topic.

"So, what do you guys think of the Hidden Animal Village? Meet your expectations? Or were you disappointed?" Everyone spoke at once, the most prominent being from Ino and Kiba.

"They have no dogs around here. It is not the haven I thought it would be!"

"I hate cats! I am allergic to them. Why is there so many of those creatures from hell around here?" Chouji and Nara chuckled.

Smells wafted from the kitchen, where Emi-chan and Chouji were cooking. As soon as Emi-chan reentered the conversation earlier, she and Chouji ran off to the kitchen and began what everyone in the room secretly referred to the Cooking Royale. The main reason no one dared enter said section of the apartment was because the shouts of disagreement could be heard clearly at least a mile away. Ayame distinctly remembered shouts about parsley and rosemary being used in a soup, suggested by opposite sides of the argument. If not for her current company, Ayame might have worried a bit more about what she would soon put into her system.

"I wonder if the food is safe to eat." Nara spoke first, a long reign of silence ended.

"The better question would be: is it safe to go in there to see if it is safe to eat? I don't know what expect when Emi-chan gets into all out war over food."

"I wonder if there are any vegetables in our meal. Chouji has a strange aversion to vegetables of any kind. He has no problem with fruit and lean meat. Vegetables, however, are strangely void in his personal kitchen arsenal." Ino spoke out loud, unaware that everyone in the apartment, including those in the kitchen, had paused their thoughts to listen to her. Looking around, she paused. "What? Is there something on my face?" Ino looked at the quiet genius first, knowing his body language best and his personality all-too-well. He just quietly looked at her, observing her with his deer-like eyes, his equally deer-like personality shining through as he gave a small look of hesitant curiosity at her unknown knowledge.

She immediately looked away from Shikamaru and he smirked. _She is so easy to read. She totally raided his fridge before we started this mission. _Chouji and Emi-san emerged from the kitchen, both rather annoyed. Shikamaru could tell immediately that Chouji wanted to obliterate their blonde teammate. _Emi-san obviously questioned his diet when no one was listening._ Shikamaru glanced at Shiinume-san and saw her studying Team 10 plus Emi-san. His frown was more than evident. He did not think the purple haired dog lover's thoughts were going to be to his liking or for anyone as lazy as him.

Ayame smirked at the frown forming on Nara's face. No one needed to read his mind to tell her that he knew how troublesome she can be with an idea in her head.

"Don't worry, I have more than one thing on my mind." Everyone looked at her strange and paused in the quiet conversation forming over the war zone dinner. Shikamaru's frown deepened.

"I really have this strange feeling in my gut that you thinking is worse than Naruto on a sugar high, which is _not_ a good thing, especially when you are the only person in the entire village available and he knows it." Ayame blinked. _I have no idea who Naruto is._

"Is that the best you have? Try Lee and Gai _both_ in marathon kicks 'inviting' you to join them! I may have wanted to loose weight, but even Sakura agrees – they 'invited' her, too – that the ten mile marathon consisting of ten miles of around thirty exercises each was humanly impossible. How do Neji and TenTen handle those two? They are balls of energy with no stop!" Everyone grimaced at Ino's remark. She officially topped it off. The Lee-Gai grouping definitely topped everything. Even Naruto combined with sugar was unable to handle those two for more than three hours. Naruto was the proud holder of the longest non-stop training Lee-Gai style, however – an impossible feat.

Marumi looked up at her savior and decided that in spite of her odd nature, she was amazing. The puppy took in Ayame-chan's appearance, her smell, her clothing style, almost everything. She glanced around the room and spared a glance towards Kiba-kun's companion. _He said his name was Akamaru-kun, right? He is so cool and grown up. _Marumi rested her head on her new owner's thigh and fell into a sweet slumber.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note:

I am so, so, so, sorry that I took forever to update. to be honest, I was partially lazy and partially busy - both are true. And to top it all off, I may not be able to update a much as I want to even more. I just got a job (yeah!), I have a ton of English III homework to catch up on, and I have just plain chores to do. As much as I am happy to finally have a job, said job also takes more time from my beloved fan fiction writing. I sincerely hope that I will not lose readers because of this. But! I also plan on updating semi-regularly, meaning that I will attempt to get something out once a month at least. I would say once every two weeks, but I would probably be killing myself in order to do that. Do you want me dead? I hope not! Please review if you don't want me dead! I will cry to death if you do not review!

Kidding. I will not cry to death, though I will be really sad if you do not review. So please review! Though, if you are like me, you prefer to get through all chapters of a story online at that moment, before reviewing. I am one of those ones. I also like to wait for the story to finish. That is just me though...

DISCLAIMER: I do not own any of Naruto. It all belongs to the mangaka. I only own the characters I made.

* * *

Chapter Seven

Ayame traveled up the stairs and walked into the room on the right, plopping onto the bed, before setting the dog on the pillow. _I am so tired. _She slowly stood again to strip, planning on taking a short shower before going to bed. She began to take off her clothes to shower as the door opened. She turned her head, back to the door, and gave a startled shriek. Kiba-kun abruptly turns around, eyes squeezed shut, and slams into the wall in attempt to find the door. Pounding on the stairs alert her to more of an audience, and Ayame quickly grabs her robe and thrusts her arms through the sleeves and closes it just in time to turn around and look at the rest of the crew. _I am so glad I put on the robe. I do not want everyone one in this motley crew to see me in my underwear and nothing else. Kiba-kun already did!_

Shikamaru blinked before Ino smacked him upside the head. An 'ow' came out of his mouth before he turned to look at the blonde, who currently wore an old raggedy t-shirt and girl boxers. _Girls are too much trouble._ Shikamaru snuck a glance at the blonde as he turned to access the situation at hand.

"You didn't have to come up here. Kiba-kun only accidentally walked in on me getting ready to shower." Shiinume-san's stuttering only made the situation worse, in his opinion.

"What's going on?" Emi-san appeared behind Shikamaru with a frying pan in one hand and a wok in the other. He gave the girl an "Are you seriously planning to attack someone with a frying pan and a wok?" look.

Emi glared at the ponytailed young man.

"Look here, Mr. I-am-so-smart-I-can-outsmart-a-genius! I have seen first-hand how deadly a frying pan and a wok can be. Have you seen them in a five year old Ayame-sama's hand when someone threatened her best friend – me at the time, because she didn't have a dog?" Nara-san blinked. "No you have not. And she did not have any ninja training at the time. Her father had been slightly overprotective till she turned ten – did you know she aced the Chunin Exam at age twelve, graduating the academy at eleven?"

Emi felt like a proud parent bragging about Ayame-sama's accomplishments.

"Impressive. Even Shika-kun wasn't able to do that!" Ino-san exclaimed, looking like a newborn pup with her eagerness to hear more. _Do these people know _anything_ about Ayame-sama? Why do they travel with a near-stranger? Ayame-sama is a good person, but even she would tell you that even if the person turns out to be a good person, never travel with someone unless you know who they are and what they are like – you don't want to end up on the bad end of a business deal over a preventable mistake._ Ino-san looked at Emi, expecting more. Ayame-sama, however, looked ready to burst.

"Can you take your gossiping somewhere else? I would like to get into the shower at some point and do _not _want an audience when getting my stuff for the shower!"

Everyone turned to look at her as she half-screamed at them to leave so she could get ready for her bath. She felt filthy and gross and a shower would definitely get ride of the headache obtained by everyone's entrance into the room. Ponytail responded almost immediately, walking out ahead of his she's-not-my-girlfriend-but-we-totally-like-each-other teammate. She heard Shikamaru mumbling, catching only the end of his statement.

"…troublesome…" Her eyed twitched as Ino followed the Konoha ninja.

"Quite mumbling under your breath, Shika-kun," she said from the hall.

Shikamaru ignored the blonde's comment – until he heard Shiinume-san's shout.

"And just kiss the girl, dang-it! It is obvious you're in love with the blonde!" The ponytailed ninja fell flat on his face, as said face went beat red.

"Shika-kun?" Ino asked, looking down at the boy, unaware of how close she was or the fact that the ninja could see down her shirt to the very provocative chest bound by a sports bra. His face went redder, if that was possible.

"I-i-ino…" he stuttered in response. _If Inoichi-san saw me looking down his daughter's shirt, I would be castrated on the spot._ Shikamaru gulped and squeezed his eyes shut and stood. His head cracked against Ino's.

Ino shouted and fell forward, defying gravity and found her self mouth-to-mouth with Shikamaru. Her eyes widened. She went red as she heard a snicker. She backed away immediately and saw Shika-kun just as red as herself. She glanced in the direction of the snickering and found Ayame-chan and Kiba-kun standing in the doorway, the fist snickering and the latter just plain confused and shocked, blinking a few times. She hugged herself as she looked away, suddenly aware of the sleeping arrangements. Chouji was with Emi, Kiba was with Ayame (something Akamaru insisted on, strangely), and she was with Shikamaru, the one person she suddenly found reason not to be around. She blushed as she thought about the kiss.

Ayame-chan snickered above him as she looked into the hallway at the sound at the crash. Ino and Shikamaru kissed and Kiba was shocked. He hadn't even known they felt that was about each other. Anyone with eyes would be able to see how much they liked each other just by how red they were – both were equally red. And Ino looked unusually reluctant to look her lazy teammate in the eye. Shikamaru was unusually active, bolting almost immediately to the room he was to share with Ino. It was then that Kiba really thought about the room arrangement. The group decided, without question, that Emi-chan and Chouji would share a room: they would both be making breakfast in the morning and in order for that to happen, they would not only need to be awake earlier, but they would also need to be downstairs. And there was only one room on the second floor. Thus, they would be sharing.

Akamaru practically forced Ayame-chan and himself to share a room. He didn't quite understand the dog's reasoning, but he long ago learned not to argue with the nindog. That left Ino and Shikamaru to share a room. Apparently Shikamaru hadn't thought of the consequences of sharing a room with Ino until now. Did he not see that the girl wore next to nothing half the time? And right now, even he could see how any guy would die to share a room with the blonde. Her hair was out of its usual high ponytail and in a low bun, falling out in the process, and she wore a large, off-the-shoulder t-shirt and girls boxer shorts. Any guy could tell you the girl looked adorable right now. _No wonder the genius took off like hell bit him in the butt. I would, too, if I finally realized that I would be… Oh shoot! I am!_

Kiba-kun groaned. Ayame looked down at the teen and wondered what he was thinking. Glancing in the room, she spotted her deposited clothes. She walked back in and quickly kicked them by her bag and slipped off the rest of her clothes while keeping the robe secure.

"Well, I am going to shower." Kiba-kun jumped and spun to look at Ayame. She blinked and noticed a faint blush on his cheeks. "Kiba-kun?" she inquired.

"H-huh?" he stuttered. Ayame blinked before shaking her head slightly and heading off to the shower. _I really need that shower. And I really have to pee!_

When Ayame-chan left the room, Kiba sighed in relief. He didn't have to worry about the girl wondering if he was sane anymore. He quickly grabbed his sleep ware and walked to the downstairs bathroom and showered quickly. He dressed in the room and walked back up the stairs, folding his clothes and placing them in a separate bag he placed in his pack for dirty clothes.

"Girly." Kiba jumped and felt like he just lost a few years of his life. He slowly turned to find Ayame-chan lounging on the bed watching him. "I take it that you are like this due to who your sister and mom are. How do you live with them?" Kiba just stared at the girl. "Your sister seems nice, and your mom seems plain tough, but they don't seem like the homely tough. They are almost like bachelors in a sense. If left alone, they would probably live in a pigsty." Kiba just slowly nodded.

"You have no idea how right you are…. How did you deduce all of that based on one meeting with them? Most people can't do that." Kiba's question made Ayame snicker.

"I lived with a bunch of guys. I did missions with people I didn't know well most of the time. I know how to read people." Ayame chuckled at the question. _Genius…_ she thought sarcastically. Kiba-kun just stared a few more seconds before continuing on with messing with his bag. He pulled out a roll and laid it out on the floor before climbing onto the bed and lounging opposite of Ayame, their feet touching just slightly. Kiba's stockinged feet warming Ayame's bare ones instantly. She pushed her feet closer to his.

"Quite playing footsie with me," Kiba said, not looking up from the book he pulled out of his bag before settling opposite of her. He glanced at the girl briefly before returning to his book. He immediately looked back up. Ayame was no longer lounging: she was right in front of Kiba's face. His breathing hitched for a second. He looked away as Ayame-chan tilted her head innocently.

"Kiba-kun?" He looked up at her. "Do you know what we are doing tomorrow?" He looked at the girl and noticed that she was hopeful, as if she forgot that in this form, she was a fugitive.

"For the most part, I think we have the day to ourselves. At nine in the morning, we have to go to a temple with Keshino-san, but until dinner at five in the afternoon, we are clear in our schedule unless Keshino adds something else to the schedule." He went back to his book to distract himself from the ever-so-close girl. She tapped his shoulder, shifting the bed slightly, causing him to look up again. He questioned with his eyes.

"How long are we going to be here?" Ayame asked. She really didn't want to stay all that long. This place held bad memories for her. Kiba-kun's eyes softened a little as he saw her sad expression. He gave a small smile.

"About a week, then we're out of here." _I have to get that whistle and leave._ Ayame returned his small smile and cuddled up against his arm, settling into a sweet slumber, not noticing how she completely ruined Kiba-kun's concentration on the book he held in his hand.

Akamaru sauntered into the room and Kiba held out the book for the dog to lay on the teen's stuff. The large white dog obeyed, watching his owner curiously as Kiba tried to move Ayame-chan over towards the pillow to sleep. He finally succeeded, but not before he somehow became the girl's pillow a second time around. Kiba looked at the Shiinume Princess and realized that he may just be in a little over his head. _How did I manage to become involved with Ayame-chan anyway? Why did Tsunade-sama have to land me with responsibility of her anyway? Hinata is a just as reasonable pick._ Kiba settled on the bed and pulled the covered over the two before turning off the lamp next to the bed.

Akamaru watched with Marumi as Ya-chan settled into his master's shoulder even more, her hair flaring slightly. Marumi herself settled next to the pillow on the roll, next to were his head would lie soon. _Kiba, these girls will be in our lives a lot more than we think. I like Ya-chan, though, so I don't mind. She is a lot better of a match than Ata-chan, even _if_ Ata-chan is really nice!_ Akamaru looked down at Marumi, who fell asleep with her little head on his forearm. The giant white dog gave a small doggy grin before laying his head dog protectively around the pup. _I don't mind though._

Kiba groaned slightly at the shaking at his shoulder.

"Kiba!" He groaned again as he heard Ino's voice slowly penetrate his brain. _How does Shikamaru manage to deal with the blonde?_ A soft, irritated noise came from his shoulder, where Ayame-chan still lay nestled and Kiba slowly came to consciousness.

"What do you want, Ino-chan?" Kiba said groggily, sleep invading his voice.

"It is almost nine o'clock!" Kiba slowly opened his eyes and saw Ino dressed in her pajamas still, though her hair was by far a mess in itself. _So this is what Shikamaru and Chouji wake up to every morning during missions._ He now understood her frustration with Ayame-chan when she first saw her in the morning.

"Okay. I will try to wake her up, but I can't guarantee anything. I don't know what she is like in the morning." With that, Ino was satisfied and started to leave the room.

_Seriously, how does she manage to look so cute in the morning like that? She has _no _tangles in her hair. Shikamaru had to brush my hair yesterday because it wouldn't untangle!_ Ino then remembered that she had to wake the lazy butt up to brush her hair and for he himself to get ready. _I feel like his mom half of the time – the one he can handle at least. I guess I like that a bi…t. _Ino gave a shriek. She heard Kiba's muffled fall to the floor and a girly shriek followed by protests against punches by said male and looked back guiltily. Akamaru walked out of the room with an adoring Marumi following him and his every move. The giant dog was clearly ignoring the boy.

Unknown to the girl, Kiba wanted to kill Ino. He finally managed to get Ayame-chan to move after a few minutes of shaking and murmurs consisting of a range of subjects from promises of shopping to dog treats for Marumi. What woke the girl up was the shaking and the promise of blueberry pancakes made by hers truly, Inuzuka Kiba. He really did not know what it was that attracted people to them, but even Hinata forced him to make the pancakes one time when she tasted them at his house one morning for breakfast. And then Ino went and shrieked. He had been getting out of the nice, warm, and toasty bed, Ayame-chan still clinging to him, when the girl set off her natural alarm system, sending him, and consequently Ayame-chan, face first with the floor. Ayame-chan landed on his knee and now he was lying on the ground, fighting off the thorough and precise hands sending repeated blows to his shoulder. And to top it off, Akamaru and Marumi abandoned him, snickering on their way out.

"Ino-chan!" he cried out, muffled, "you are so going to pay for this!" Kiba's comments were cut off by the need to concentrate on protecting himself.

-Twenty Minutes Later-

Kiba-kun and Ayame-sama were now downstairs, and Emi could tell that both were rather murderous.

"Ayame-sama, please calm down. If you remain in that demeanor, someone is going to find out…"

"You should be worrying about calling me by my proper name. It is Umi-chan, remember?" Ayame-sama's voice was curt and abrupt. She was not going to be done with her little attitude anytime soon unless the culprit apologized. And the blonde who unwillingly sat next to Nara-kun looked guiltier than Doodle when she stole all the dog treats one night. Ayame-sama's eyes began to change color and Emi grew slightly worried. Until said girl spoke.

"You promised blueberry pancakes." Kiba-kun jumped slightly before grumbling and standing to go make the pancakes.

_Of course she would remember the pancakes…_ Shikamaru looked up at Kiba.

"When was pancakes on the menu?"

"Since your girlfriend there caused me to get a black eye here. After telling me to wake up the uncooperative dog princess here…" Kiba grumbled. "And if you think you are getting any, fix that train of thought. I am not making a lot." Kiba was only making enough for him, Ayame-chan, Marumi, and Akamaru. Chouji could eat what they couldn't finish.

"Blueberries?" Emi-chan questioned. "How did you know Ayame-sama is practically addicted to blueberries?" Kiba looked at the short girl and blinked.

"I didn't." Ayame looked up at him, all anger now diminished.

"You just bribed me blindly?" Kiba-kun looked at her and nodded. She went pink. _And here I thought he actually did research on me. I am happy now._ She stood to go look outside. Her blueberry patch was still in the forest right here. _Come to think of it, this is Nii-san's fiancée's old place. I wonder if that book is still in the attic. _With that thought, she ran upstairs, not knowing she saved herself completely.

Kiba stared at the girl confusedly. No one ran so quickly when he thought on it.

"Kiba-kun! Shika-kun!" Kiba turned, noticing both Ino and Shikamaru looking little less than murderous. He also saw three different people standing behind Keshino-baka.

"Who are they?" he questioned. The ninja suddenly gave a sign and Kiba found himself bound to a chair, as did Ino, Emi-chan, Shikamaru, and Chouji. The dogs were bound to the floor.

"I apologize for the inconvenience." Her voice was sickly sweet as the ninja started up their respective jutsus.

* * *

Author's Note: Ata-chan is Hinata (in case you didn't figure that out. Ya-chan is Ayame-chan, again, if you did not figure that out. Other than that, if you have any questions, just review or PM me. I love to kow people are reading my stuff. I wll respond to any reviews I get. I can see now why people live off of reviews now that I have gotten a few myself! Loves!


	8. Chapter 8

Iris Petals: an Inuzuka Kiba Romance

**Author's Note:** I know. I am very late in getting this out. I apologize. Not only did I keep getting stuck, but I kept on getting so many other cool ideas to write about that I starting them out a little bit before I continued on with this. But I hope you are happy, as I got it out now. I must say that this chapter stumped me a little bit. I never thought I could give myself this much writer's block with certain situations that I write. It took a lot of creative juices to get this one out. Happy reading!

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto. All I own are the aspects unknown to everyone else. Please enjoy!

* * *

Chapter Eight

"I apologize, but my father has demanded that we make sure none of you are spies. He said something about people sneaking in under guises and that being related to Shiinume Ayame's escape. And you are the people who came in with her." Keshino continued to speak, but Ayame fought to keep silent. Looking down at her hands, she couldn't help but feel thankful to her brother's fiancée. _I feel like I need to help but I am saving them up here. Just by not doing anything and not going down there. Who would have thought that Kia-chan's book would save me? I hope no one gets in trouble…_

-Downstairs-

Kiba tried to move. He tried to sniff. None of his skills were working. His chakra was locked in place. He heard Akamaru and Marumi whining, the latter due to the former squashing her underneath him. Clearly they masked their chakra to keep from being detected. _They know about nindogs, then. _Kiba settled for glaring at the men and Keshino-baka. _I just hope Ayame-chan doesn't come down the stairs. It would be really bad for her. _Kiba glanced at Ino and saw her concentrating on the males in front of her. _That better be a jutsu coming up or else I will beat her up later for checking out our capturers!_

"Aw, why do the bad guys always have to be cute?" Kiba and Shika-kun looked at her. _Serves you right for not brushing my hair this morning, you lazy jerk. _Chouji looked at her incredulously as well before rolling his eyes._ At least someone in this group knows me well enough to know what I am doing._ She felt a prod in her mind and narrowed her eyes at the man doing it. "What do you think you are doing?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Just because you locked up my chakra doesn't mean I don't know what to do if I feel someone prodding my brain. I use mind jutsu all the time, idiot. Don't you know anything about the Yamanaka clan in Konohagakure?" The man just blinked, ruining his concentration. Ino broke out of the jutsu instantly. But not quick enough to stop them from invading Shika-kun's mind, evidently.

Shikamaru failed his initial defense. _How the heck do I manage to keep Ino out of my mind, but can't keep these amateurs out for two seconds? _His thought process became shadowy as he continued to muse on his demise. Shikamaru had no idea that this shadow effect was saving him. His mind-ninja couldn't navigate through and was forced to retreat. When he came up from his thoughts, he noticed that the ninja was rubbing his temples.

"Why don't you just tell the girl already? I thought only girls thought about romance all the time…" Shikamaru blinked a few times and looked over at Ino.

"What is he talking about?"

"How am I supposed to know? I can't read his mind." Chouji gave a strangled laugh.

"How the heck do you manage to get out of these so quickly?" Chouji said. Kiba ignored him however. He was trying to get out of the mind jutsu threatening his conscience. He felt another prodding and fought harder. '_You dolt! It is me! Ino!'_ If Kiba could have jumped, he would have. _Ino? What the heck are you doing in my brain?_ Kiba heard her struggle to keep calm._ 'No offense, but you are the only one who will truly compromise Ayame-chan. Mr. All-I-Think-About-Is-My-Crush. Chouji is probably thinking about food or something similar to food.'_ Kiba felt indignant, but did not bother to argue as Ino went to the forefront of his mind and worked against the jutsu. _'These guys are so amateur.'_ Kiba rolled his eyes internally. Ino continued on with the comments, but eventually managed to get the guy to back off. She lingered only a while longer. _'Really, just kiss the girl already.'_ With that she left his mind. Kiba still felt his chakra being held back. _Well, Ino can't do everything…_

Chouji watched Ino from the corner of his eye. He knew why she went to Kiba first. He was the obvious threat. In fact, he felt he was the least threatening. The only thing he could reveal about the girl was that she was pretty and she had a strange thing for Kiba. _Nothing really there to harm us with, other than the fact that Kiba would probably do anything for her._ Not sure how far they got into his head, Chouji hastily shifted his thoughts. His mind automatically jumped to Emi's cooking. His mouth watered slightly at the thought of the meal she made the night before. _Savory butter marinated tofu! Oh, how I could die to eat that stuff again! I wonder if we can convince her to come to Konoha just so I can persuade her to cook for me. She is a kitchen genius!_

All heads turned to look at the man breaching into Chouji's mind. Clearly he had not gotten in before Chouji changed his line of thoughts, however, he had the terrible fortune of entering his mind when Akimichi Chouji was dissecting the flavors of food.

"Why the hell did I have to get the fat one? He is making me hungry for the loner's tofu marinated in butter!" The boy, clearly not knowing that Chouji was infamous for his reaction to that tabooed word, did not see Chouji coming as he went flying into the screen door and through the wall on the other side of it.

"Way to go Chouji. May I ask why you could not do that Kiba? I mean, if you could have done that to your mind jutsu holder, I wouldn't have had to expend all my energy in kicking them out of your mind." Ino complained.

-Upstairs-

Ayame silently clamped a hand to her mouth. She would give away her hiding spot in an instant if she let out a single noise. _Chouji is going to make them pay big time! Even ordinary villages don't take kindly to destroying property over insensitive comments! Their hokage is going to be furious!_ She curled her legs closer to her as she sat three feet from the entrance behind a box that held chakra concealers. Ayame already took out all but two of them and hid them in a scroll in her back pocket. With one in each hand, Ayame made a seal, activating her genjutsu. She slowly stood, taking care to avoid squeaky spots even though no one should hear her anyway. As she reached the top of the stairs, she looked around the entrance for other people. When she was satisfied enough that no one was there, she walked down the ladder slowly, and cautiously, should someone show up.

On the last rung, she took off her shoes, holding them in her hand as she placed each foot on the floor. Setting them on the ground next to the door, she made a seal as she glanced into the kitchen. She focused on each individual ninja, aside from Keshino, who she knew would be able to fight off the jutsu. Each one fell into a standing stupor as Ayame crept into the room. Looking at Kiba, she noticed that no one even put her in their mind. _They must think I am smarter than this. Even I have to admit this is a very, very stupid idea._ She crept behind Keshino, pulling out a kunai. With one pull on the hair, Keshino was down, shrieking. The other ninja collapsed, the standing stupor becoming full on genjutsu as they imagined themselves passed-out drunk. Keshino tried to scream more, but Ayame put a stop to her voice with a simple tag.

"Be very quiet," Kiba heard come out of the girl's mouth. "We don't want our step-daddy coming because he thought something bad happened would we?" Even he knew that this was Ayame-chan, the side no one in this group saw. He felt the chakra hold disappear as soon as the men fell out of their jutsu a few moments before they hit the floor. Kiba was just too shocked to move. Until he saw another ninja sneak into the room. He quickly drew a kunai and threw it. The man jumped and held up his hands in surrender. Shikamaru quickly made use of his shadow jutsu. The man looked at Ayame-chan out of the corner of his eye. The girl looked at him suspiciously.

"A bit stupid to come out of hiding isn't it?" the man asked. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes and glanced at Kiba, who shrugged lightly, though his hand tightened on his kunai.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, her voice hesitant to address the man.

"Aw, Aya-chi! Is that the way to greet your sensei?" Ayame-chan's eye twitched, though she kept her grip on Keshino. "And really, your hold on Keshino-san is rather useless. I can tell you what you need to know. Keshino Miyuki ordered the interrogations, not the village leader. Your father is still alive, your brother's dog and all the other clan dogs have gone missing from the village, and the whole village is confused as to why the Shiinume clan would want to 'take over the village', as the word is. I, for one, am confused as to why the lazy Shiinume princess would try to start a war with the Stone when she refuses to become a village jonin because it means more work for her. I do not try to question, though, because I know it will lead to no good. Maybe you can answer that for me. Why are you trying to anger the Hidden Village of the Stone?"

Ayame forced her face to remain suspicious. What she really wanted, though, was to laugh. _People actually _believe_ I want to start a war? Do they _not_ know me at all?_ Shikamaru interrupted her thoughts however.

"Jonin?" Ayame rolled her eyes this time.

"Pick up the pace, Ponytail. Aren't you supposed to be a super-genius?" Ayame asked in attempt to be humorous, even though she did not slacken either her grip on Keshino (which was, in contrast, tightened) or her suspicious attitude.

"Um, Ayame-chan, I think you can relax now." Ayame's gaze flickered to the blond for less than a second before it was on her sensei again. He was gazing at her.

"I seem to have taught you well. I must admit that you could give even me a run for my money now. That is both a comforting and a discomforting thought. If you really went rouge, no one would be able to stop you. If someone else were to go rouge, you would be able to catch them in a heartbeat. This is more than I can say for other students."

The man's gaze flickered to Keshino-baka as he spoke. Kiba narrowed his eyes at the man, not lowering the kunai.

"Just who are you?" he asked, his voice just as suspicious as Ayame-chan's had been.

"Ah! A truly suspicious person. For all of her wonderful talents, I am afraid that my student here is possibly one of the worst liars to the people that matter the most to her. Most see this as a blessing. I see this as a potentially fatal flaw." The man was smart, Kiba would give him that. His suspicion just rose a notch though. Shikamaru interrupted.

"Are you here to hurt her?" The man's eyes saddened.

"I really should report her to authorities in the village, but for some reason, I wanted answers and I fear these answers I am likely to receive are only going to hinder it impossible for me to follow the village orders to report any village rouge immediately. I always thought it was odd that she would kill her brother and potential boyfriend. And I always found it odd to find her working so hard to get herself fired as a ninja. Ha," the man chuckled, "I found it odd that she was working so hard to begin with. Aya-chi is a very lazy ninja."

Kiba heard Ino snort.

"Ha, as if. She is more active than this idiot here." The girl jerked her head in the direction of Shikamaru. Kiba gave a snort as well.

"You got a point there," Kiba said as Chouji chuckled. Emi-chan just smiled.

"Shimoku-sensei, why are you here?" The man's eyes flickered to the girl and Kiba was taken aback when he saw the man smile.

"Emi-chan, I merely wanted to see why someone would order an interrogation on people who are supposed allies. Though, I never thought the leaf to be people who safeguarded supposed village traitors." The man chuckled at his light humor, as if he thought that Ayame-chan being a village traitor was as realistic as dogs flying for hours on end. _This guy is giving us less and less reason to hold him suspicious._

"Don't release your jutsu, Ponytail!" Ayame shouted as Keshino struggled as she slowly went purple. The girl would be out cold soon.

Shikamaru almost released the jutsu before she said that, but kept it up still. Shiinume-san was clearly still not sure where her old sensei's dice lay: friend or foe. Shikamaru felt, though being unrealistic and a bit paranoid, the girl had plenty of reason to be so. She had her brother murdered right before her eyes and supposedly by her own hand, though the sensei thought this was BS, as did the rest of the group, and she was now a village traitor, no matter what her past record spoke of her. Clearly this village did not know her as well as they thought they did if they could so easily blame her for all these seemingly unreasonable blames of crime.

"Women…" he mumbled before putting more strength into the jutsu.

"Finish your questions." Shiinume-san demanded more than just the questions, if her voice was to say anything. She wanted her own answers.

Shikomu felt his eyes water up. _This is what she has become? A confused teenager who can't figure out why people hate her so much? How could anyone believe she would betray all of them? Clearly she is only acting out of self-defense now. I was telling the truth earlier. I would never be able to betray my favorite student when I am forced to. Not when she is looking at me with such sad eyes. _The man took a deep breath.

"Why did you not accept the jonin position?" Ayame-chan's eyes flickered with humor.

"You said the answer earlier. Too much work—"

"The real answer. You know I was joking earlier." Shiinume Ayame paused.

"Who said I did?" Her voice was soft and almost missed. Shikomu felt his eyes widen. _She accepted jonin?_ "I am not one, though. I am not a ninja." Shikomu gave a snorted laugh at that. He took note that Keshino was unconscious now, and lying on the floor in a little pile.

"Your handiwork on the floor tells me otherwise, as well as the jutsu used to conceal yourself earlier. Only the Shiinume-clan can mask their chakra with the chakra concealers in the attack of this house or not. You are still a jonin skill level ninja who is the home of several village secrets." Before his student could get in another word to object, he continued. "How come you ran away from the scene of your brother's murder? Why did you not cry until months passed?" Ayame-chan stiffened immediately.

"None of your business," she said. He narrowed his eyes.

"I am not moving on until you tell me." Ayame-chan narrowed her eyes as well.

"It was his order," she said quietly again.

"Ordering you to leave makes sense. His big brother instinct was to protect his baby sister. Ordering you not to cry is impossible to follow and unreasonable to demand. How could he expect the thirteen year old girl who is facing hormones and puberty not to get emotional?"

Ayame felt her vision blur. Her sensei was opening up old wounds. _He doesn't know. He doesn't know that I cried myself to sleep. He never saw me run from the training ground, focusing his attention on Keshino. He never witnessed me crying for someone to protect me the day father forced me to leave the village. _The tears spilled over the rims of her eyes.

"You don't know anything," she whispered.

"What do you mean I don't know anything? You know better than anyone just who I am and what I am capable of. I see everything that my team deals with. I approve of all the missions and who is fit to go through with them. I saw some perfect for you after you disappeared! I know who you are, Ayame! Tell me the truth! Stop lying to me. Why didn't you cry?" His eyes spoke the real question: why didn't you talk to me? "Why?"

"You don't know anything!"

Her scream shocked most occupants in the room, but not Shikomu. He was hitting her to the core. She was fighting to keep her locked up tears a secret. "You don't know anything." Ayame-chan repeated those words even though her face gave it all away. She was betrayed by the village and her best friend. Keshino Miyuki betrayed her at the last minute and she was forced to leave. She was never given a chance to mourn her brother and friend before she fled. She never had a shoulder to cry on.

"I merely waited," he said. "Why did you fail all those missions on purpose?" Ayame-chan cried harder.

"I couldn't handle it. I didn't like it anymore. I am not a ninja." Shikomu gave a sad smile.

"You always were a horrible liar when you lied to me, Ayame. Try the truth. Why did you fail all those missions?" Ayame-chan shook her head.

"I am not, a ninja. Not anymore. I haven't been a ninja since…" Ayame-chan had tears fall even more.

"Why didn't you come by to say hi when you came back?" Ayame-chan, who had been looking at the floor for a few minutes, looked up, startled. Her sensei had humor in his eyes. A wobble of a smile finally appeared. Right before she pounced on him. Unable to run due to the shadow genius' jutsu, Shikomu was forced to fall back on his bottom. _Stupid Nara Shikamaru. Of course you would choose now of all times to release your jutsu!_ The man smiled, though. His favorite student was back home, even if in disguise. He glanced at the girl his pupil knocked unconscious. A small frown appeared. This girl hurt the warm being in his lap. He finally hugged the girl back, and smiled again. _At least I know she is safe now. She really has no idea what she means to people, does she?_


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's Note: **Sorry this took so long to update. I have just had so much to do that it got a little hectic here on my end. But the chapter is up and I hope to have another one up soon too. I finally have my muse back! I hope I haven't lost any readers. You know I love you guys. Read, and if you like it, fav or alert my story. Reviews are also appreciated, but not demanded. Though they make it so much easier to write faster!

* * *

Chapter Nine

Kiba watched as Ayame tackle hugged the man who entered the place. Until he felt it prudent to warn her that if anyone saw her (excluding said man she tackle hugged), she would be as good as dead. She reluctantly let go of her teacher and ran up the stairs.

"Beat Keshino up for me, please." She disappeared through the doorway. Kiba looked at the teacher as soon as she was out of site. His frown was more than prominent. Shikamaru also looked at the man with caution. The former sensei gave a small smile.

"It is nice to know that she is well protected. You don't look very smart," he said to Kiba, "but clearly you have a head on your shoulders. Konoha is very good at that." Kiba growled. _Why must people always say that? Is it really shocking that Konoha has some amazing ninja?_

"Is that supposed to be an insult or a complement in disguise?" The man smirked.

"You decide that one. Though, I must say it gets tiring to hear comments like that all the time."

"Try being Naruto…" Ino muttered. Chouji stifled a laugh.

"Naruto thrives on the element of surprise. We should all know that by now." Kiba just shook his head in annoyance. The man raised an eyebrow.

"Naruto…" he questioned. This time the whole group rolled their eyes. The village hero clearly was not known in this place.

"Uzumaki Naruto. You don't know who that is?" The man blinked few times before his eyes widened. Ino rolled her eyes.

"Yeah. He is that guy," Ino said, moving to sit on the stool at the island.

"You," the man said, pointing to him. Kiba frowned, his grip tightening in his weapons pouch as he gripped his kunai. His gaze never wavered from the man.

"What?" His voice was rough. He cleared his throat. "What?" he repeated, his voice clearer.

"Why are you so protective of her? You just barely met her the other day." Shikamaru spoke up at this.

"He is the one that rescued her. All of us are fairly attached." Ino looked at Shikamaru with a passing glance. He was calculating the man. She looked at him again, noting the scars on his face. The man was definitely experienced, much more so than the unconscious girl on the ground in front of them. His cornflower blue eyes were shadowed but clear and his tanned arms were covered by three quarter sleeves of a brown shirt. A thick scar, recent, lined his forearm, crossing with former scars, most contrasting with the dark skin.

"And thus the deep emotions are quickly grown. It is in my experience that ninja usually have a harder time making bonds."

"And your village does not have Naruto. The guy pretty much trusts anyone if they give off the right feel. We all learned from him that way. He is a curious guy. He could help this village greatly, when I think on it," Ino said, shifting her legs.

Shikamaru moved to the stool next to her and moved it behind her, messing with the ponytail Ino fastened after he brushed her hair moments previously. The man grinned knowingly, though at what, Shikamaru did not know.

"Hiyate Shimoku," he said, giving a hand to Kiba to shake. Shikamaru merely watched as Kiba hesitantly moved to shake hands with the man. When he did, they both released their hold quickly. Shikamaru stood and walked outside as Kiba and Hiyate talked. Eventually, though, Hiyate Shimoku decided he would take Keshino to the family place and allow her to recover there, while the remaining three, consisting of Kiba, Ino, and Chouji, volunteered themselves, including him, to move the remaining ninja that Keshino had brought with her. As soon as the man left the building, the three started.

"Shika!" Ino shouted, making Kiba cringe slightly. _Does she always have to shout like that?_ He continued to carry the unconscious ninja toward the forest, dumping the body probably farther than really necessary, those three miles left and around the village, when he returned, he found all bodies had been removed, Ino, Shikamaru, Chouji, and Ayame behind him. Kiba did a double take at Ayame.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, blinking in confusion.

"I figured the chore would be faster. What are we doing today?"

"Chouji, Ino, Shikamaru, and I are going to be spending time with the main family. You will be here keeping watch over the house."

Ayame merely stared at Kiba.

"What are we doing today?" she repeated, watching as Kiba glanced nervously behind her towards Ino and Shikamaru, whom she knew were behind her. Chouji, who stood next to her, sniggered.

"What are we doing today?" Emi asked from the doorway. Kiba turned and frowned, wishing desperately that he could scream for the two to stay home. It wasn't safe for Ayame, and it was clear that Emi wasn't well liked by the Keshino family, or at least the daughter.

"No one said you two were doing anything. Chouji, Shikamaru, and Ino are coming with me to do whatever we are doing. _You two_," he said pointedly, "are going to stay here." Kiba stalked past both girls, hearing Ino behind him talking in a low voice to who he assumed was Ayame and went to finish making breakfast, though he eventually just put his portion of the food in the fridge, as he lost all appetite due to the encounter with Ayame outside. _Why is the woman so determined to be involved?_ He went up the stairs and collected what he needed and came downstairs to a moody Ayame and not-so-comfortable Emi. He paused at the doorway and looked at the girls.

Both looked suspicious as he watched them while Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji ambled down the stairs, ready to go.

"Where are you going?" Ayame asked innocently. Kiba cut Ino off.

"Nowhere in particular. Wherever Keshino gets the idea to go." With that, he shoved Team 10 out the door.

"Are you okay?" Ino asked as soon as Kiba was done shoving.

"Yeah. Why?" Ino blinked at his too controlled expression.

"Well…You…I…" she started. "Never mind." She turned and headed down the street. Shikamaru was in line with her, and Ino immediately flustered, accusing him of trying to keep up with her; Shikamaru did not bother trying to point out that being in step with her was a complete accident. Everyone stared and shook their heads.

"Really, they about as obvious as Hinata." Kiba smirked at that.

"More, I think." Ayame looked at him as he started to move along with Chouji. As soon as they were out of earshot, she turned and stomped into the house, not knowing what she was bound to do with herself.

Ayame stood in front of the market stall, trying to understand what her instructions were. She regretted her eager offer to Emi to go through town and buy the groceries so the girl could clean the home the group was staying in. She didn't know what half the food items were on the list, and felt stupid several times each time the seller looked at her like she was not alright in the head.

"Sir, do you have any komatsuna or kabu?" The man looked at her sympathetically. _Am I really that obvious?_ He picked up some celery like leaf plant and tied the bundle before handing it to her to place in her basket. He picked up the only bulbs and handed them to her, naming off a price. She handed over the money and moved on to the next stall Emi pointed out. This time it was a woman and Ayame wanted to bolt – right before she remembered that the woman wouldn't recognize her. It still didn't make it any less terrifying to try and use a normal voice with the woman who she terrorized as a child in her games of hide and seek with the other kids in the village.

"M-miss, do you have any satsumaimo or renkon?" The woman looked at her with a slight frown. Ayame tried not to look too guilty. She watched as the woman pointed to a white root and a purple vegetable. Ayame picked up two of the purple and one of the white and gave the woman her money. As she turned, she slammed into someone, barely keeping all of her purchases in the basket and catching the white root before it hit the ground. Her crashing partner, however, landed oh-so-delicately on his behind. She placed the vegetable in her basket before giving attention to the man on the ground.

"Are you okay?" she asked. The man looked up and she froze for a second before smiling.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He gingerly stood, brushing of his bottom with care.

"What brings you to the market?" she asked, forgetting momentarily that she wasn't supposed to show that she knew him.

"Why do you ask?" he returned suspiciously. Ayame tensed before relaxing.

"Well, it had to be urgent for you to go crashing into someone who has been standing in the same spot for a while, and not to see them turn around." She felt her response was witty, seeing as it was covering her tracks. And it got out the question as to why her idiot half-brother was running around in front of the Ms. Matsuma. She had a reign of terror on little kids running through this area. He should know this.

"Nothing," he said, and Ayame didn't bother pressing. She wasn't too interested in Takumi's current terror causing ways. He started to walk away when Ayame called out to him.

"Do you know where the blueberries are?" Takumi turned around and smirked.

"Good luck finding those in the market. They haven't sold them since the Dog left town." Ayame's felt her face fall and looked down, upset. She knew there were some blueberries behind her current place of residence, but she was hungry, and nothing in her basket looked too appetizing.

"Do you know where I can find anything good to eat? Or even some blueberries anywhere in town in general?" Takumi looked at her and contemplated her question.

Then he held out his hand and smiled.

"Follow me." With that he took her hand and led her out of view of the villagers and whistled. A small puppy, not even adult yet, came bounding to him, tail wagging and jumping onto his legs, whining for attention. Ayame beat Takumi to giving attention to the dog. The boy looked at her in shock. He shook his head.

"What?" she asked, catching his disbelief.

"Nothing," he said too quickly. She gave him a look, not unlike the one she gave him when he was little, and first brought to the house, after his mom brought him to see dad. This unnerved him into speaking. He spoke hesitantly. "You remind me of my sister. Well, half-sister. I miss her. I used to try to follow her. She was so cool. I don't think she liked me trying to hang out with her all the time." She barely caught his last words and softened at them. Her baby brother missed her. Someone actually missed her. And she thought that he was just trying to annoy her like her baby cousin would. Now she felt horrible for pushing him away.

"What happened to her?" she asked, curious how much he knew.

"She was driven out of the village. I thought I saw her last year, when I was in the woods, with her nindog." Ayame studied him and tried to remember where she was last year and remembered being in a remote place that a lot of ninja liked to train sometimes when they needed to be alone. She looked at the puppy, now on its back enjoying the tummy rub she was giving him.

"You are from the Dog?" she asked. The fifteen year old eyes darted hostilely to her.

"What is it to you?" She smiled.

"Well, you will be the only person from this village who will have good taste in food." The boy softened, and sat down across from her, scratching the dog's soft ears.

"Yes and no." Ayame looked at him strangely.

"What do you mean?" he continued to look at the puppy and Ayame was hit by the revelation that her baby brother had no one.

"I am the son of the clan leader, but not legitimate. So they don't try to kill me, and I am not accepted by anyone in the Shiinume clan." Ayame felt her heart break at what he said next. "But I am not accepted by the village either."

"I think you wrong." He looked up. Ayame felt like sticking her foot in her mouth. Bu she knew she had to explain. His eyes demanded it. "I think your dad wanted you. Maybe your sister, too. If you ever get the chance to, you should talk to them." Takumi looked like he didn't want to get his hopes up.

"I won't." He looked angrily at the village. "They made sure of that. What is so cool about Keshino Miyuki anyway? She is so stupid."

"No one cares about your little opinion, you little mutt," a voice said and both looked up. The puppy had hidden itself in the bushes a moment earlier. Ayame figured it was because of a passerby. She had a feeling the dog knew the routine due to experience. Keshino stood above them, glaring at Takumi with hatred that showed that she wished he wasn't untouchable for the clan crimes. Ayame was suddenly glad that the clan never liked her illegitimate baby brother. It was saving him right now.

"I thought that was a reference to animals or dirty people." Ayame knew that Keshino didn't recognize her. She chose the appearance of a girl she saw in Konoha. It was a really good disguise. "And he seems decent to me. Why do you have to pick on him?" Keshino stiffened and turned, stomping off in anger when she couldn't fight the words Ayame just said. The boy looked at her in awe. She stood and brushed off her pants. He stood as well, and the dog poked his nose out but remained hidden, though she heard the little guy following them from behind the bushes, coming out the join them when he really wouldn't get in trouble. Takumi picked him up and started to lead again, leading her to the back yard of the apartment she was currently staying with.

"Konoha ninja are staying here right now, but I am sure they won't mind if you pick some of the blueberries Kima-san grew. They are still just as good as when I used to sneak them from the bushes when she was engaged to my half-brother. I didn't like him that much. But only because he always tried to get me kicked out of the house. He died a few years ago, when I was twelve. Some whack-job murdered him in Crucifix Meadow, actually just a few miles out of the village." Takumi snorted. But before he could continue, a kunai pierced his arm. Ayame shrieked and turned, Kiba and Shikamaru were both eyeing Takumi with suspicion.

Shikamaru spoke to the boy, who was locked in his shadow.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Ayame saw the boy was trying not to cry. By some instinct, she moved and slowly removed the kunai, taking a cloth out of the basket she carried and pressed it against the wound, glaring at the boys. Takumi started to cry right then.

"Release him!" she demanded and both boys, shocked at her anger, dropped their stances and watched as she patched up his arm. She heard Emi in the kitchen asking what happened. She gasped and tumbled out of the house to Takumi.

"Takumi-kun! Your arm!" The boy was in the valiant process of stopping the tears from falling and thus did not answer Emi.

"Those idiots thought he was trying to kill me, if I am not mistaken. Ayame heard a gasp.

"Nee-chan!"

Kiba felt his eyes widen. Ayame had dropped the jutsu, and the little boy, who looked around thirteen, happened to clear up his tears by then to recognize her, thus attacking her with a hug!

"Mi-chan!" she grunted, clearly not enjoying the hug her little brother was demanding. He glanced at Shikamaru and the two were suddenly guilty about attacking the poor boy. Ino stepped out into the yard and helped the girl get the boy off of her, healing his arm in the process. The boy looked at Ino curiously, particularly the green glow her chakra emitted as it healed his arm.

"My name is Ino," the blonde said gently. She pointed to Shikamaru and Kiba. "And the idiot with the ponytail is Shikamaru. The one with dog poo for brains is Kiba." Takumi looked at Kiba curiously. He eyed the dog standing next to the boy and whistled. The dog perked its head, but the puppy bound out of the bush and sniffed at the boy's arm, crawling all over him, and licking the arm sympathetically.

Ayame smirked as Kiba melted on the spot, a mixture of guilt and desire to cuddle attack the dog.

"Feel bad about acting before thinking now?" Both boys looked at the floor and made circles, Kiba with his foot and Shikamaru with his finger. Chouji watched the two ashamed boys with humor. Ayame walked up to them and stepped onto the porch. She patted Kiba on the shoulder and walked past him.

Chouji watched as Ayame walked up the stairs and smirked. Kiba was stupid sometimes, but so was Shikamaru. Ayame wasn't stupid enough to reveal herself or lead someone to her residence in the event that they might hurt her. She had to trust them. And she clearly trusted – and obviously knew – the little boy in front of them all, whom Ino was dotting over and Emi was fretting upon. Chouji shook his head a second time. They were both besotted fools to think the boy was a threat.


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's Note: **Sorry for the long wait. I really just couldn't think of a good way for this chapter to go. It just took some time. I really wanted to get the story moving, and it is now, so I hope you readers think it was worth the wait for the chapter. Forever the writer, ILK13!

**Disclaimer:** Clearly, I am a genius and made Shikamaru and Kiba so hard to pick from as to who is the best that even I am stumped.

Not really. I do not own anything familiar in this story!

* * *

Chapter Ten

Kiba groaned as he heard bickering. He merely asked for a nap. A simple, measly thirty minute nap. And what did he get? Bickering siblings instead. It was bad enough that he had to deal with this in the Hidden Leaf with some of the people in the village. It made all the worse by the fact that he had a head ache.

"Stay out of my things!" Ayame screamed, at which Takumi responded with equal fire.

"Of yeah? If you would give me a little money, I wouldn't' have to go through your things to get money!"

"Why don't you just do the usual scooping you do? Steal from Ms. Matsuma! I am sure she could _gladly_ give you some food!"

"Oh, yeah. Hand the baby brother to the market devil! I see how you are!"

"Go make your own money!" A door slammed. Then slammed again before Ayame bustled into their shared room. Kiba gave her a glare.

"You are aware that he may just not be allowed to get a job. He _is _still part of the dog clan, even if he is untouchable." Ayame froze when he said that. Just before bolting out of the room, the cash her brother took still in her hand. Kiba almost fell back asleep when Ayame shouted for Takumi to wait for her. As the door slammed, Kiba winced before finally nodding off.

Ayame took off after her brother, who was heading out the door. She grabbed his arm to make his slow down. He finally did, and she gasped to catch her breath.

"I will get you something." He eyed her suspiciously. "You told me earlier today that you were an outcast everywhere, right?" Takumi watched her wearily.

"I am not some charity case."

"I didn't say you were. I was offering to bring you to Konoha with me, though, when Kiba-kun is done with this mission." Takumi blinked before turning to head into the market, Ayame following him.

Ino stared out the window, unable to figure out what to do with the hour she had left before she would be required to play best friend to the cat girl. She honestly understood why everyone didn't like to be around her. She was creepy and she was annoying beyond belief. She ripped on the dog clan constantly, and the whole team was wondering who was really running the village at this point: the village leader, or Keshino Miyuki. She looked into the room as Shikamaru stepped in, choosing a spot to lay down, a nap on the forefront of his mind.

Deciding this sounded like a good idea, Ino chose the lounge chair next to him and curled up, staring at the flowers growing up the trellis above her head. Unable to contain herself, watching as the flowers above her looked frail, she stood and grabbed the stool next to the door and stood on it, trimming the floral arrangement and putting water into the buckets placed at the base of the jasmine vines. When she turned, she froze, not sure how to react to Shikamaru not sleeping, but watching her as she treated the sick flowers, already looking more alive just with a bit of care. Ino found this a testament to what people in this village knew: nothing at all. Voices came from the inside of the house, but Ino ignored them, knowing that everyone else was probably just as busy as these two were in trying to find something to do in attempt to pass the time until they became busy. Slowly, Ino went back to her plant work, ignoring Shikamaru as best as she could, unusually aware of the relatively quiet strategist.

"Is there more to this mission than meets the eye?" Ino asked suddenly, unable to deal with the tension she felt. She heard Shikamaru sigh.

"Tsunade-sama said she wanted to find out the roots behind the annihilation of the Shiinume Clan. She feels there is more to it than simple treachery."

"She thinks someone set them up, and that they are really innocent."

Shikamaru hesitated before responding. "Yeah. She said Ayame is far too distrusting of people who try to help her for the reports to be true. It is the reason Ayame is safe in Konoha." Ino mulled over this. She had similar gut feelings as well. The girl was hurt more than just physically, and the way she reacted to Ino, beyond thinking her reactions were strange, was more than enough proof. She was weary of those who wielded even a little bit of influence. And unfortunately Ino could see similarities between herself and Keshino, prominently the need to be the best and the competition between herself and Sakura, though it toned down over the years.

Shikamaru could see Ino thinking.

"That makes sense." She finally spoke, continuing to work with the flower in her hand, the blossom stimulated by her touch. A knock came from the front door and Ino let go of her slight hold on the flower to go answer the door. Behind it stood Keshino, from the stretched out position Shikamaru laid in to satisfy his curiosity. Ino looked slightly stunned, but grabbed her purse all the same, always excited to go shopping.

"See you later," he called softly from the lounge, and Ino gave him a brief smile before waving.

"See you later. Think everyone would want to go to the cinema later? I could check the listings."

"We could decide later." She walked out the door just as a girl Shikamaru vaguely recognized from the streets of Konoha walked in with Takumi. Keshino gave no mind to the stranger, nor to Takumi, other than scrunching her nose in disgust. As Ino disappeared around the corner, the girl walked further into the house. Shikamaru did not doubt that Ayame had decided to take the form of Konoha citizens to cover up her identity.

As soon as she was sure that Keshino was gone, she undid the jutsu, and collapsed on the chair settled on the porch, happening to land next to Shikamaru. The boy studied her, and Ayame tried to ignore the stare. She succeeded for close to an hour until Takumi decided to join in.

"Really?" she demanded, her voice going high in her exasperation. "Am I that interesting to you people?"

"Why next to me?" Shikamaru asked, and Ayame, looked at him. Her blank expression made no impact on the genius. "Why did you choose the lounge chair right next to me?" Ayame looked around her and back at Shikamaru, before glancing at the chair.

"It was the seat. I didn't realize I was right next to you. Sorry?" she questioned. In actuality, she didn't notice where she was plopping herself, only throwing herself on a seat at random. If Kiba were out here, she may have unconsciously plopped down next to him only to bug him.

She jumped up and ran up the stairs. Peaking into the room she and Kiba were bunking in, she smiled sneakily and went into the bathroom and filled one of the many ceramic bowls that littered the room. Before she finished her plan, Kiba woke up, walking down the hall. She dropped the object in her hand, and Kiba peeked in on her.

"You okay?" he asked. She looked at him and merely nodded. He stayed for a moment before heading back to his previous destination. As soon as she was sure he wasn't upstairs, she swiped the broom in the closet, swept up the ceramic shards, and dumped them before racing down the stairs to bug Kiba. The boy was chewing on some bread, giving a nibble to his dog. As he finished it, he started towards the door. Ayame followed, placing a disguising jutsu in place as she stepped outside.

Kiba turned to question Ayame, only to be hit with Hinata. The girl blinked.

"What?" she asked.

"Hinata…what…you…huh?" The girl blinked.

"Dimwit, it is me. Ayame!" The boy slipped to the ground. As soon as he calmed down enough, he spoke.

"Next time, use a different person…" he mumbled. Slowly standing, he headed down the street. Ayame hurried after him.

"I didn't know your teammate would scare you."

"I wasn't expecting to see you disguised as Hinata, that's all." Turning, he started down another street. Ayame grabbed his elbow. He blinked as he stared at her confused. "What?"

"Don't go down there." Akamaru perked his head and whined in confusion.

"Why?" he blurted. Ayame looked nervous as she glanced down the road.

"It's…" she started. She gave a frustrated breath. "Just don't go down that road!" Kiba rolled his eyes before continuing down the road he started, ignoring Ayame's pleas to turn around. Suddenly, they stopped. Kiba froze, suddenly uncomfortable.

Ayame stared down the street, and around her. She didn't know how to explain to Kiba how dangerous that road was. Especially for someone who had an affinity to dogs. He was walking straight into cat territory and they had no problem hurting anyone who trespassed. Unable to take the internal debate any longer, she ran after Kiba before she could change her mind. When she reached the point of no return, she felt her disguise fade. Right before Keshino Clan ninja pounced on her. She fought as the dragged her to the compound. When they finally released her, Keshino Rubiko was in front of her, her purple eyes a slant, not unlike her daughter's.

"Shiinume Ayame, the Dog Princess," she purred, Ayame's skin crawling at the ripple of her voice. "Nice of you to come visit us." Ayame looked around the room, her body tense with anticipation. She spotted a hallway, and looked back at the woman in front of her.

"Where is Kiba?" she demanded, not beating around the bush. The woman studied the girl before flicking her wrist. Kiba came tumbling into the room. He looked at her.

"Nice warning," he spit out, causing Ayame to glare at him to shut up.

"Happy, Shiinume-hime?" the woman purred, a snarl to her ears. The red came against her will. The anger at the mockery in her tone, as well as the use of her proper title created a mixture the clan _knew_ was bad. Kiba squinted as she slowly blew up, a volcano slowly bubbling over. She made the beginnings of signs with her hands. Before she could finish, Akamaru burst through the wall screen and landed on top of her. Kiba bolted over to the dog and hopped on as he pulled her onto his back and flew out of the room. Ayame barely heard Keshino Rubiko send a warning that she had one hour before authorities would be there to arrest her.

Kiba ran into the house with Akamaru as Ayame bolted up the stairs in a frenzy to pack everything. Chouji, Emi, and Shikamaru all turned to question him.

"We have to leave. Now." He ran up the stairs before they could question him further. Chouji blinked before he moved.

"What the…?" Shikamaru merely shrugged. Ayame ran past them.

She turned and spoke in a rush. "What are you waiting for? We have less than an hour to get out of here?" She continued on her way. Chouji ran to the room he shared with Emi, who followed him and packed up his things. Emi merely grabbed a bag she had stowed away in the closet. Chouji didn't want to know how long she thought they would last here. He moved upstairs to go see if Shikamaru needed help. He found the ponytailed genius in a frenzied state, not even paying attention to the fact that he was packing Ino's clothing. And that Ino would murder him if she caught him doing so.

"What the hell did Kiba and Ayame do to get us in trouble?" he muttered.

"They probably found out that Ayame was with our little crew the entire time." Shikamaru jumped in shock at Chouji's voice. He heard Emi across the hall, helping Ayame pack and collect their stuff from around the house. Chouji started on Shikamaru's pack to shrink the amount of time it would take. Shikamaru put Ino's makeup bag into her pack and tied it up, heading out the bedroom door as Chouji tied his. He didn't speak as they followed Kiba downstairs to the living room where Ayame and Emi were packing up the extraneous stuff that Ayame must have collected throughout the trip.

"Ayame, you do _not_ need this much food for the trip." _Scratch that. _Shikamaru shook his head. Ino happened to walk into the door at that moment, confused.

"What's going on?"

"We are leaving. Now." Kiba watched Shikamaru hand Ino her bag before moving to help Emi and Ayame. He grabbed a bag of cookies and started munching. Emi blinked before grinning.

"Okay, everyone grab a bag of food." Ayame fell backwards and glared at the girl. Kiba merely chuckled as he threw a bag of chips at Chouji and some cookie pouches at Shikamaru and Ino. He saw Emi grab a bag of celery and Ayame grudgingly grab the container of blueberries. Takumi merely looked away from the group. Ayame grabbed a bag of fruit and threw it at him.

"OW!" he exclaimed as it hit the back of his head."

"Let's head out!" she said as Emi zipped up the bag of food and slipped it over her shoulder with her other bag. Everyone trooped out the back door except Takumi.

"Waiting for an invitation?" Kiba asked, watching as the boy's eyes widened before he scrambled after them, the dog on his shoulder gripping his shirt in fear.

They ran through the trees and got halfway to Konoha before they paused to look behind them. Takumi collapsed on the ground and guzzled down the water in Ayame's water bottle, leaving barely a sip for her.

"Go ahead," she said. Kiba and Team 10 turned and saw Ayame looking at her brother sourly. Takumi grinned sheepishly before handing the bottle to her. "No, seriously, you can have the last sip." She sat down and nibbled on some blueberries in the container. Ayame felt a light tap on her head and saw Kiba handing her a water bottle. She blinked before shaking her head.

"Take a sip," he said.

"No. I'm not that thirsty. Besides, blueberries have water in them." She put another blueberry in her mouth. Kiba refused to relent, however. After five minutes of the light tapping that was no longer so light, she relented and grabbed the bottle.

Opening it, she took a sip before closing it again, handing it to him, this time, not getting tapped in the head as he put the bottle in his bag. She looked around to see everyone sitting down and eating, Emi having passed out the sack lunches she made that consisted of peanut butter and apple jam, the Hidden Village of the Animal's specialty. Ayame had put a few jars in her bag just so she would be able to eat some of it. It was one of the many things she missed about her village. A rustle in the trees made everyone jump. Ayame bolted behind a trunk, Kiba following. Aside from Takumi, no one else was quick enough. Ayame almost whistled for the dogs, as she saw the Animal and Leaf ninja study each other, but Kiba silenced her.

Kiba didn't know what possessed him to silence her this way. As he felt her shock, he couldn't help but return the same feeling. After seemed like ages, he started to pull away, only to have Ayame return the kiss, her lips soft against his chapped ones. Suddenly conscious, he pulled her closer and up against the tree. As their lips danced, Kiba swallowed a groan as he felt Ayame's fingers message the base of his neck.

Ayame didn't know what possessed her to kiss him back. She could have let him break the kiss and end it. But no, she continued it, and now she couldn't think straight to save herself. All she could think about was Kiba's lips on hers and the complete blank bliss they left her in. She forgot everything that was happening around her. She only came to some sort of reality when Kiba's arm – which had been firmly around her waist – was no longer surrounding her, but pushing something away before it came back to her waist, and gone again. She also didn't hear the little cough next to them either.

"They are gone, you know." Ayame felt Kiba jump away. She herself got spooked by the girl. One glance told her that she would never live this down. The ground was also a very pretty shade of brown, dotted with the deep green leaves of the trees above.

Ino watched as Kiba and Ayame became flustered. She thought Akamaru was just playing games, but when she came over to check, she almost turned back around. As Kiba went around the tree and to his stuff, Ayame followed, on the opposite side of the tree, and to her own belongings not too far from his. Both refused to look at each other. Before she could ponder this more, Shikamaru spoke.

"We are about halfway there. And the light is disappearing. What do you say we continue a little farther and then call it a night when we deem it safe enough. Maybe Chouji can take the first watch with me, then Ayame and Ino?" Ino smirked as Ayame reddened and started to protest.

"How about Ino and Takumi?" Kiba suggested. Ino sent the boy a glare; Shikamaru merely nodded.

"That works." Takumi looked over to Ino and she sent a stiff smile to the boy, wondering if he was good. Most boys in the Hidden Leaf were Genin preparing for Chunin exams by now, but the Hidden Animal was a different Hidden Village and policies were different.  
She would just have to wait and see.


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's Note: **Sorry for the long wait. I really just couldn't think of a good way for this chapter to go. As always, the story takes time for me to get the kinks out of it. I decided to go for a lighter note at the end for this chapter, with Kiba struggling to understand what is going on. Hope you like it! Forever the writer, ILK13!

Furthermore: oddly, when I finished this chapter I was listening to Carrie Underwood's album _Play On_, more specifically the song "What Can I Say" for the majority of the writing. When I read through the last bit of the chapter, I can kind of see the influence. Usually the music I am listening to at the time generally doesn't influence what comes out on paper. I guess even I am not beyond that either. I am not beyond a lot of things, though.

**Disclaimer:** Here is the ending of Naruto: Sasuke is killed, Naruto wins the war, and he marries Hinata. Oh, and I married a frog. True story to the end, as ET2 would say.

Except this one isn't. What does a frog even feel like?

* * *

Chapter Eleven

Ino grumbled as a hand shook her shoulder. It shook her again and she mumbled something incoherently. "Ino!" Ino mumbled, this time semi coherently.

"Go…way…ka...ru…" When the hand shook her again, she groaned.

"Ino! It is time for you and Takumi to take watch!" Blinking, she turned and glared at Shikamaru. It wasn't Shikamaru waking her up. She looked around blearily. She saw Ayame swat at Shikamaru, though she was finally roused by some comment the male made. Whatever was said, it made Ayame storm over to the still dead to the world Takumi, who jerked up as Ayame slammed her foot into his side while stripping him of his blanket and pillow. He stood to fight, but froze at the sight of his still pretty sister. Ino glared half-heartedly at the girl who obviously wasn't aware of the unfair advantage she had.

Ino grumbled as she got up, running a brush through her ponytail. She glanced at Takumi, who donned his coat as he watched his sister pull her blanket back over her, heading back to dream land instantly, blissfully unaware of Ino observing the interaction. Shikamaru, happening to be standing in the same state of shock as Ino by Ayame's sleeping spot, chose that moment to look at her. Ino blushed, suddenly embarrassed by her obvious gawking.

Shikamaru came out of his slight fog and moved to his sleeping bag, slipping into the sleep he so wanted for the four hour watch. Takumi was a slight hitch in his plans, but Ayame seemed more than capable of waking the boy up. Personally, he was curious about the boy's ability, but he knew Ino, and knew she would be bursting with anticipation to chatter about it once they reached the leaf. He would be shocked if she didn't gush about it as soon as the boy was halfway across the village. He left it behind him for now, deciding to sleep instead of think, an impossible feat he hoped to achieve.

Takumi glanced at the tall blonde. He admired her earlier, but he never thought he would actually talk to her. Not that he had yet. Running into his sister deterred his thoughts of flirting with the girl. And while he wanted to watch her as he woke up, he was too busy trying to not be attacked by his sister again. More than anyone else, he feared his sister as though she were the devil. Anyone with a brain would fear her. He was her brother and knew she hated hurting people and animals. Heck, she hated her job! She tried to fail on purpose! Yet she was the most terrifying ninja he would ever know, and not just because she was a girl who was more hormonal than a pregnant dog. She knew how to kill. Not all ninjas were able to set aside, yet at the same time keep in, their emotions and feelings about death. You did not anger Shiinume Ayame, Princess of the Shiinume clan. Not if you planned to live into the next day. And Takumi rather valued his life.

As he assumed his station, he looked over at Ino, a few feet from him. She perched on a branch the next tree over. She didn't know that she sat just like Kima-san did, ankles crossed and forearms facing the scene in front of her. Nor did she realize that the shadow guy who just got off watch woke up three times and ended up staring at her before falling asleep. Takumi hopped to sit on the branch next to her.

"Not a sneaky one, are you?" she asked. She kept looking into the trees, not appearing to pay any mind. Takumi wondered if this girl was as airheaded as her hair suggested. He flickered his eyes to the trees surrounding them. _I hope those will be enough to keep the Animal at bay. I am just lucky none of them know my ninjutsu…_ A rustle in the leaves made him clench a fist near his gear pouch. "Only the wind."

Takumi looked at Ino. She smiled quietly. She didn't think it wise for them to be in the same spot, and was about to say so when Shikamaru jumped up. As did the rest of the camp. Takumi leapt from their branch, running full speed towards a corner none of them thought to watch. The ringing noise that alerted all of them – and had Ayame in tears at its pitch – to alertness cut off just moments later. Ayame, however, took off after Takumi, yelling his name. This made the rest run. Ino noted that Shikamaru stayed behind as well.

"Someone has to keep watch here, you know," he said, hiding his face from view. She just looked away and sat down near the fire in the middle of the clearing. Shikamaru lay down on his mat, his bag a pillow.

Ayame ran after Takumi. He was going to get hurt. He didn't know how to be a ninja – outcasts were never taught anything. They were lucky if they went to civilian school. She ignored the heavy footsteps of the group coming after her. She just had to protect Mi-chi. Like she always did. He was Mi-chi. No one messed with her Mi-chi.

"Mi-chi!" Her voice echoed as she skidded into the clearing. Three men, all Animal ninja, lay scatter on the ground around him, unconscious. Another lay dead at the entrance on the opposite side. Ayame looked at her brother, confused.

"Takumi-kun," she breathed. The trees around her looked brushed by chakra, and she didn't want to think about what the bodies of the ninja had been through.

"It looks like a chakra tornado hit." Ayame didn't turn to look at Chouji. She just looked at the markings on the trees before she started to shake, eyes changing. She spun and ran, not sure why she was angry or why she was crying or why she was transforming. All she knew was that she was mad. She needed to run and blow off some steam.

Kiba looked after Ayame and merely saw a blue and lavender tail flicker through the underbrush. He looked back at the boy before running after her. The scared, haunted look in the boy's eyes made Kiba wonder why he hid these skills – and why Ayame was so shocked. The boy obviously needed to defend himself. He couldn't rely on her forever. And she was gone. It was required. He ran until he found her, curled up in a ball, her kekkei genkai shivering. He slowly approached her, kneeling next to her side. She circled and stuffed her head into his shoulder. He felt the wetness through the jacket and pulled her closer, caressing the fur under his hand. The shivering slowed and eventually the dog shifted, the form changing back into the girl he recognized. Who he also never thought knew how to cry until he saw her crying right now.

"Ayame…" The girl buried her head deeper into his shoulder and sobbed silently. Just sobbed.

Kiba tried to ignore the obvious awkwardness that now existed between the two siblings. Even Ino and Shikamaru, who shared a kiss in what had to be the most embarrassing form possible, only topped by Kiba's silencing of Ayame back in the forest just the day previously – he felt that was natural, as it was still a fresh memory – were acting more civilized than these two, and they, too, avoided each other's face like Naruto sought out Sakura. But they had been surpassed by Ayame's unforeseeable anger at the small boy traveling on the exact opposite side of the group. Moving forward, he stayed next to the angry girl, trying to figure out why she was crying so hard. They stayed in that alcove for close to an hour and all that came of it was an eventually dry face, albeit puffed and reddened eyes, and a stony expression for the three hours since. Almost to Konoha, announced by Chouji, who also made an exclamation about Korean Bar-Be-Q, Takumi stopped, causing Emi, who was on Chouji's back, who was right behind the smaller boy, to shriek as the larger one stopped just in time to not crush the boy. Ayame, who Kiba knew was a reason away from snapping at her brother before this, broke.

"Make up your forsaken mind!" Her scream, just outside the gates, barely in sight, attracted every ninja close enough – which made roughly a quarter of the village. Kiba cringed alongside Shikamaru and Ino as he heard the forest go silent at the sound of her voice. The Inuzuka knew instinctively that the screaming girl knew this, only choosing to ignore the signs that maybe she should calm down.

"Ayame…"

"No, he needs to make up his mind. Do you, or do you not, want to go to Konoha? Because we won't stop them from questioning you. Maybe you have some secrets. Like some crazy ninja skills you obviously didn't tell our home village, or else they would have locked you up years ago." Ayame stopped talking, breathing hard as she tried to calm herself, struggling to get out of Kiba's arms.

As he held her, his hands refusing to let her loose to charge up to her brother, she felt herself breaking down. Her baby brother was deadly. The squealing pup that came crying to her every time a bug climbed up the rubber on his shoe managed to take out four of the Anbu in her village. She slumped against Kiba, who in turn maneuvered her to ride on his back as he decided to take her ahead. At the gate, the jonin glanced at her before greeting him.

"Nothing is out there. She just decided to scream her lungs out at the worse possible spot." The ninja relaxed slightly, clearly trusting his word. Kiba shook his head and Ayame wrapped her arms around firmly around his neck. Unable to handle the stress on her brain anymore, she fell into a stupor.

Kiba piddled around in his room as Ayame slept, wishing he was grateful she wasn't awake to drag him around the town. But he wasn't. And he was madder at himself over this little fact than of anything else. Finally having had enough of the sitting around, he stood, spooking the three dogs lazing next to him with his abrupt action, determined to do something with the day. Leaving a note, he slipped out the door, his canine companion not batting even an eyelash at his owner's somewhat erratic behavior.

Running around the park, and down an old path, he concentrated on keeping Ayame out of his mind for more than three seconds at a time. It came to his attention during this mission, when they were trapped by the Animal Ninja and when he let instinct take over in the forest two days before that his focus was coming undone. Normal behavior seemed to take a giant leap into missing nin territory, probably kicking back with Uchiha right about now. Not realizing the time, he kept up his pace, determined to not slow down. His feet led him to the trail that made a snake just inside the village, and he stopped, looking around him.

_Long time since I took this trail…_ Starting up again, he imagined taking Ayame around this trail. Maybe around spring time, when everything was in bloom and pretty. Kiba ran a little bit faster, scolding himself on the fact that he yet again had Ayame in his mind. When he made it back to the family compound, he poured sweat and succeeded in only kicking the girl out of his mind for less time than he had the first time around. Breathing hard and wiping his forehead, Kiba looked at the house and saw Ayame standing on the small porch behind his room. She was staring at him, emotional state clouded by the shade that hid her face, making him all the more curious to her thoughts, Kiba climbed up the steps and sat down on the porch, feet on the middle step. Almost cautiously, she seemed to decide to sit next to him, half a foot away, scooting a little further away. Kiba laughed.

"What? Do I smell?" Ayame looked at him with confused eyes. Then sniffed. Kiba moved closer, almost touching her before she scooted farther away, a smile struggling to slip to her lips. She fought to keep it down.

"Eww! You're gross!" When she couldn't move farther, she stood and ran into the small yard. Kiba stood just as quickly and chased her, a little boy with a frog chasing his crush. He caught her, hugging her, sweat and all. She squirmed, shouting about unhealthy and disgusting contact. Eventually she gave up, slumping. He hugged her closer, and she whined, but stopped when he nuzzled her neck.

Boldly, she turned around, Kiba still trapping her in his arms of sweat, and kissed him on his confused face. Stiff at first, it didn't take long for the boy to respond, tentatively kissing her back, almost shy. Slipping her arms around his neck, she tilted her head slightly, deepening the kiss, testing out the limits he had. Hands slipping down to her hips, Kiba pulled her closer, slowly moving them from the center of the yard. Still moving, he pulled away for a second to breath before kissing her again as they reached the porch. Leaning against the porch, he pulled her as close as he could, their mouths dancing in a dance she was all too willing to participate. The dance their lips were creating would have lasted longer had they not been interrupted by a loud shout from someone behind her. Instantly jerking apart, both looked and saw Naruto and Ino, staring in shock.

"Kiba! You have a girlfriend?" Naruto questioned, as if this were not possible.

"Is that all you have been doing since we got back from this mission?" Ino exclaimed, as if they were nothing but hormonal and didn't think sleep were important. Both teenagers bristled.

"Why would it be so weird for him to have a girlfriend?" Ayame questioned the blond. Kiba, however, glared at Ino.

"What do you think I am? A hormonal idiot? I have better things to do with my morning, too, you know!" Both ignored the insinuations made by both comments.

"So you two are dating?" Ino asked, not ignoring the insinuation.

"So kissing her is not something you want to do?" Naruto asked.

"N-n-no. Why would you think we are dating?" Ayame stuttered.

"I didn't say – I mean, I enjoy – Naruto!" Kiba flustered.

Suddenly realizing that the sweat was starting to cake on him, Kiba turned to the house, bolting to the shower before anyone can stop him. This left her alone to fight the fire he created. Suddenly bright red, she mumbled something about being hungry.

"Oh! You can come with us to Ichiraku then! We came by to invite both of you. But then we found you eating face, sort of like Shikamaru was with Ino when I went to invite both of them." Ayame looked to Ino, eyes glittering with blackmail. The girl sent unseen death glares to her blond companion.

"Thank you. I might just do that." Ayame giggled as she went inside to freshen up before putting on sandals and change into shorts, her gear on her hip.

Once in the room she was in the night previously, she strangled a scream and turned to walk into the wall.

"What the!" She heard behind her. Peaking behind her, she covered her eyes.

"Tell me when you're decent!" A few minutes later, she heard his okay and turned to see him shirtless, wearing dirt-worn jeans and converse. A towel on his head, he vigorously rubbed his hair dry before dropping the towel on the footboard and grabbing the shirt. She changed her clothes quickly as he turned to fetch a different shirt from his drawers. When he turned, he almost started as she tugged down the tank and headed out the door pulling his sweatshirt on – which he didn't bother correcting as he was just happy that she was pulling on more cloth protection than the normal spaghetti strap shirt that barely covered her torso.

"Where are you going?" he asked, making her pause in the hall just outside his door.

"Ichiraku with Ino and Naruto. He invited me to join them. I think Shikamaru is going as well."

"I'll come, too," he said, following her as she continued down the hall.

She stepped out into the yard and Naruto, who had been busy chatting with the platinum blond who accompanied him, turned and stared, open mouthed. Kiba, who followed her outside still tugging on his shirt, glared at the blond, but didn't say anything.

Stepping down the steps, he walked past her, puzzling at their issue of happening to walk in on each other in less than decent stages of dress. We was not expecting her to come into the room as he was about to pull on boxers. Ino watched him with a smirk.

"Don't trust us?" she questioned. Kiba sent a foul look at her.

"No, just thought ramen sounded good when I asked where she was going." He continued down the walk the path that lead to the street, leaving the other three to run to catch up to him.

Ayame, the quickest, caught up to him, admiring from just behind him his shirt and wondering why he changed his mind three times. The midnight blue sweater over a white t-shirt made him look like he had his sister buying his closet. Wondering why he seemed to be able to do anything, she sped to walk next to him.

"Kiba!" she bugged, poking him in the arm every few seconds. He looked down at her, curious and annoyed at the same time. Grinning, she poked his arm even faster. Getting tired of it, he shoved her gently, grinning as she stumbled.

"Hey!"

"Hey!" he responded mockingly. Ayame pouted as she poked him in the arm again. Grabbing her hand, Kiba refused to let go of either one of the hands he trapped, walking backwards to keep from tripping.

Neither noticed Ino or Naruto watching them, sending glances at each other as they tried to figure out just what the heck was happening between the two dog clanned ninja. _I guess even Kiba can flirt with girls…I am comparing him to Shika and Naruto, though, so it doesn't say much. Neither has shown much more promise with the female variety._


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's Note: **Sorry for the long wait. I didn't realize I went literally one year without opening this one or updating it. I did work on it, though. In increments. I just couldn't seem to get the kinks out of it in a better time table. I have gotten it out though. I worked through the weekend, but it is out! On a lighter note, I have been listening to the Frozen soundtrack a bit too often. I love the song Do You Wanna Build A Snowman. Quite literally stuck in my head. Hope you like it! Forever the writer, ILK13!

**Sidenote:** Found a new band that I am falling in love with: Parachute. I had no idea they sung the song "Kiss Me Slowly". I absolutely adore this band so far. I feel like I am trapped in another time, though, with all the new music they have now. This seems like music that is more popular with my class than anything else.

**Disclaimer:** I am the proud owner of several stuffed animals. And several started, unfinished novels. Unfortunately, I am not the owner of Naruto. Enjoy my story, though, all the same.

* * *

Chapter Twelve

Kiba could feel all the eyes of fellow ninja on him and Ayame as they sat side by side in Ichiraku, never mind that Shikamaru and Ino were practically in top of each other with how close they were sitting to each other. Everyone in the village seemed to know about his newfound emotions towards the newest member of the village. He tried to ignore them. Naruto, however, seemed, as usual, not to know anything and was determined to get in the know – and get to know Ayame, part of the reason for Kiba's undercurrent of irritation.

"So you are from a different village?" he asked, Kiba attentive all while stirring his still-burning hot ramen. He had no idea why he didn't really like Ayame and Naruto's seemingly instant friendship.

"Yeah. Why do you ask?" she probed, sending the tables back at Naruto.

"My mom was from another village. From the Whirlpool nation. Are you a refuge?"

"No," Ayame said, aware of Kiba's silence.

"When did you and Kiba hook up?" Kiba's egg went flying out of his bowl at the question. He figured it out. Naruto and Ayame would get along perfectly and their two unpredictable minds put together would mean imminent and unavoidable doom for the rest of the village. He didn't want to be linked to that destruction.

"We're not dating, Naruto," Kiba remarked before asking for another egg. The girl gave him another one.

"Ayame-chan! You never give me another egg when I ask!" Naruto whined.

"That is because you merely wish for another egg for your ramen," Hinata remarked before settling next to Kiba and ordering a bowl.

"Hinata-chan! Hey! I am going on a mission in two days! I was looking for you earlier to tell you. Neji said you were busy when I stopped by your compound."

Kiba noticed Hinata freeze slightly at the mention of a mission.

"You have any upcoming missions, Hinata?" Kiba asked.

"I can make you a lunch if you would like me to, Naruto-kun," Hinata said, ignoring Kiba's question. She froze the moment she said that, giving Kiba a weary look. He merely smiled.

"Kiba-kun!" she whined before dropping her head onto her arms. Her head popped right up before she smiled innocently at him. He frowned. She had something to toss back at him this time.

"Shit…" he muttered, dreading their training tomorrow.

Ayame sat on Kiba's bed, bored. He was currently hanging out with his team and she really wasn't up to being studied by the opaque eyes of his teammate. At least that is what she was thinking of it as. He said they were going to be discussing the mission they were on before the whole Hidden Animal fiasco. She really didn't care. She just wanted something to do. Glancing outside, she spotted her brother sitting in the grass with his puppy. An idea popped in her head.

"Oi! Takumi!" she called. He turned around, blinking at her. She stood up and grabbed her shoes, slipping them on. He stood as she did so, his puppy wagging his tail absently as he cocked his head at her. "We are going to look around the village. Look for a job for you. What do you say?" Takumi blinked before smiling. She smiled back and took to the path.

Within twenty minutes, they were in the market. Takumi looked around in awe. He grinned in amazement at the different stands selling wares. He looked over at Ayame, who was chatting with a vendor. He hurried over to her.

"…do you think you can afford to?" he caught his sister saying. The shop owner looked at him curiously.

"I don't mind having help, but it won't be much pay. I like making a profit." Takumi cocked his head in confusion.

"He's only thirteen. And he is with me. This is just for pocket money." Takumi looked at his sister. She was bargaining.

"I will think about it." Takumi tried to hide the disappointment. Ayame didn't bother. Her eyes flashed.

"Don't bother. We will look somewhere else. Thank you for your time." She snatched at his arm and dragged him along the street.

Ayame was boiling. She thought that man was nice. His shop is successful. _That is what I get for trying to help the guy! Just the other day, he was complaining about not having enough time to do everything that the shop required and now he is refusing help. Must not be so desperate!_ She slowed as she neared the flower shop. Looking at the shop curiously, she stopped. Starting up again, she dragged Takumi in there.

"Blondie!" A growl met her ears. She found her at the counter. The girl frowned at her.

"What do you want?" she asked grouchily.

Ayame glanced at Shikamaru leaning against the wall behind the counter.

"Do you need help in your shop? Like part time help?" The girl blinked.

"Why do you ask?" Before Ayame could respond. "Because unless you call me by my name, I am not going to hire you to help me."

Ayame closed her eyes in frustration. "I am not asking for a job for me, Ino," Ayame growled the girl's name. Ino cocked her head in confusion.

"Then why are you asking about needing part time help?"

"She is helping me get a job. I think she is bored because Kiba is out with his teammates and she didn't get invited to go along."

Ino's eyes glittered at that. "Oh, really?" She watched as Ayame tried to not give in to the urge to strangle her brother.

"Please?" Ino looked at Takumi, more curious than not.

"Do you anything about flowers?" she asked, analyzing him more than anything.

"A little bit. But I can learn!" he added on. Ino hid her smirk.

"Well, the only thing I can really use help with around here is stocking the flowers during busy periods. Maybe covering for me during lunch. You could run the counter whenever I am out on missions. This isn't guaranteed, though. I have to run this through my parents first. They are the owners of the shop." Takumi grinned.

"Okay! I am staying at her non-boyfriend's house with her!"

Ayame banged her head on the table, clearly tired of people making the assumption that her and Kiba were dating. Shikamaru, however, saw what Chouji bet coming out before their eyes. Both Kiba and Ayame were denying the attraction they both had with the might of a stubborn bull. He smirked.

"How are things with the non-boyfriend?" he chuckled.

"I don't know who you are talking about!" she huffed, pointedly studying the wall. Shikamaru dropped the book he had been reading before they walked into the shop as he shook with laughter. He watched her as she walked out of the shop, head held high as she huffed. Her brother merely stared at her in amazement. She walked out and right into Kiba, who had been walking by. Her face filled with shock and she shrieked. If not for being caught by Kiba, she would have fallen on her butt. Shikamaru saw her face light up and smirked, which he knew she was caught by her sudden faux lack of excitement at seeing the shinobi.

"Hey, Kiba," she said, before struggling to calmly walk away, failing miserably as she felt more than heard Nara's laughter. It didn't take long for her to stomp off – not faked – in anger at the genius. She heard Kiba running to catch up to her.

She felt more than heard Nara's laughter. It didn't take long for her to stomp off – not faked – in anger at the genius. She heard Kiba running to catch up to her.

"You ok?" he asked when he was in step with her.

"I'm fine." Even Ayame could hear her clipped voice. She slowed to a stop, Kiba right next to her. "I'm fine. I am just a little annoyed, that's all. Really," she started forward again, Kiba following her. "How was meeting up with your teammates?" Kiba's face fell almost instantly.

"That meeting isn't over yet. You are merely interrupting it." Ayame jumped at the sound of the bug ninja's voice.

"When the hell…"

"We have been here the entire time. Amazing what we block out when we want to," Hinata said, spooking Ayame even more at the total silence of her footsteps. Ayame gave Kiba a startled look.

"Yeah. She does that."

Suddenly uncomfortable, she stepped out of the circle the team unintentionally created. "I…I will let you, uh, um, finish…your meeting." With that, she ran away, towards the bookstore.

She was in the gardening section, looking, but not really seeing, when she saw more than heard the blonde ninja next to her, not recognizing the girl he all but interrogated the day before at Ichiraku. She studied him as he picked up a book, opening it to a specific chapter, as though making sure it had what he needed before starting to close it and pick up another one.

"Uzumaki, right?" she asked, and he nodded, unnaturally silent.

"Naruto!" a pink haired girl shouted from outside. The blonde ninja blinked before looking around and up at Ayame.

"Oh! Hey, Ayame," he said as Ayame recognized the medical ninja that had healed her when she first happened on the village a few days previously.

"Naruto! Did you find the instructions on raising the plant?" she asked, gaining the attention of the famous ninja. Naruto nodded, opening the book open to the chapter he was on.

"Right here. I was about to purchase the book." Naruto turned to go make his purchase.

"What are you two trying to grow?" Ayame asked. Sakura glanced at Ayame before answering.

"We are trying to cultivate a medicinal herb. Naruto is really good at raising plants. Figured he would know where to look, and if not, where to. Surprisingly smart for someone who is an idiot more times than not." Ayame tried not to see beyond the soft look the pink haired ninja carried as she looked at her teammate. "I sometimes have a hard time believing that my teammate is so powerful. Especially when I know what he was before. He used to have the power, but lacked the skill. Can you believe that he used to struggle with a shadow clone jutsu?" she asked incredulously.

"I have never seen him in a fight. I didn't know he was so powerful."

Sakura smiled at Ayame's remark.

"He is. Even Sai admits it. Sasuke probably thinks so, too, even if he is a missing-nin." Ayame blinked.

"Sasuke?"

"Uchiha Sasuke. Boy genius turned most dangerous missing nin. Naruto almost beat him a few years ago. I wonder if they will ever let him truly free ever again."

Ayame looked like she wanted to ask more, but she didn't bother. One, she didn't look that much interested in Sasuke – he probably sounded incredibly dull, even if he was important to this generation of Leaf Ninja that were all so highly invested in his fate – and two, it wasn't like knowing anything about the man would do her any good. He had no connection to her life, not unless he was going to try to kill her just like her home village was trying to do. So Sakura didn't spare the girl the too long history behind Sasuke and his importance to them, especially to Team 7.

"What are you doing in the book store anyway?"

Ayame blinked as the ninja asked her that question.

"U-um…no-nothing really. Just bored and happened to come in here." As if to make her out to be a liar, Kiba came into the store, her brother close behind her. Sakura waved, not noticing Ayame duck behind a shelf.

"The last person we asked said she came in here…" she heard Kiba mutter. A soft tail spooked her and she hit her head on the shelf.

"Hey Sakura, do you know where my nee-san is?" she heard Takumi ask. _How does he know Sakura?_

"Do I know you?" Sakura asked, spooked that the kid knew her. She didn't recognize him from around the village. Ayame peeked around the corner and noticed Kiba smirking. She narrowed her eyes. _He totally told Takumi her name…_

"No. Kiba said your name earlier." Kiba's smirk lowered as he looked around. She hid her head, hoping that he didn't spot her.

"Who is…?"

"Shiinume-san. The girl that you –"

"Oh! She's…not here. She was just here a second ago…"

"She hid when these two came in." Ayame narrowed her eyes. Naruto knew where she was. Mostly because he continued to walk until he stood right in the way of them seeing her – as well as he seeing their expression.

"Huh…" Sakura said. "Knew she was in here for a reason…" Sakura muttered.

"Well, she misunderstood, kind of. See, Shino and Hinata are going to the Hokage's at the moment. We were putting together our report for the mission before I went with Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji to the Hidden Animal. I am still not too sure why I was needed on that mission to begin with, but all the same…"

"Oh! That mission! Shikamaru requested you. Said something about you having already having met some of their ninja just outside of our village. Tsunade-sama wanted you to go long to make sure it was actually Animal Ninja."

Ayame sat down to get more comfortable. A decision she regretted almost instantly as Kiba had decided to move to the animal section of the store – which happened to be right where she was sitting. He blinked as he looked down, while she looked guilty.

"Hi!" she said, her voice small and appeasing. He crouched in front of her, his uniform slightly dirty, indicated he trained a little when they were reviewing their report earlier.

"People don't usually sit unless they are reading or hiding. And you are not holding a book."

"You are a lot smarter than you look." Kiba rolled his eyes.

"You need to come up with an original way to make me –"

Kiba's mind went blank as she moved to stand, her modest shirt making her all the more noticeable. Maybe it was the sporty look she gave off, but somehow, the loose three quarter sleeve – Kiba didn't give too much thought on how he knew that fashion detail, nor did he want to ponder the fact all that much either – shirt and her cut offs made her all the more appealing, though many of the ninja would look but not touch. They were too worn and jaded to think that being in a relationship with a civilian would work, and since Ayame was so new to Konohagakure, none would know better.

Her aim to look like a civilian worked, at least here. Honestly, though, when Kiba really looked at the facts, every kunoichi in the Leaf village looked like an every day civilian when they were off duty. Even Ino, and every civilian guy knew she was a ninja. It was hard not to recognize the bombshell blonde. As she got to her full height of 5'1", Ayame looked at him expectantly.

"I need to come up with an original way to make you what?" she smiled, and he knew she knew what he had planned on saying. What stopped him, she probably wouldn't begin to fathom. After all, she was dressed pretty conservatively, given what she usually wore, at least to their knowledge. He cleared his throat as he stood stiffly – he wasn't sure he had fully managed to recover from the mission to recover the scroll from the Stone – and shook his head.

"Nevermind." With that, he waited for her as she studied the books on the shelf behind her. Hinata popped up a moment later, saying that Shino was taking care of everything.

Hinata watched Ayame for a moment. The girl was looking at dog care manuals, something she was fairly certain the girl didn't actually need.

"Oh! Tsunade-sama said to stop by her office later, around 2000. She said it is important and that she would talk to you now if she wasn't so swamped with work."

"Me?" Kiba asked, and the girl nodded, slipping him a piece of paper. He read it quickly, crumbling it the moment he finished, the paper decentigrating instantly. He moved to leave, mumbling something about feeding Akamaru. Hinata blinked before rolling her eyes. Kiba truly disliked bookstores.

"He really doesn't have much to do here, does he?" Ayame remarked offhandedly, still looking at the book in her hands.

Hinata just shook her head, not really sure how to verbalize that with more than just no.

Kiba just really disliked bookstores. They made Akamaru freak out. The dog refused to step inside for a reason.


End file.
